Land Donation for a New Kankakee County Animal Control Facility

We, the undersigned, ask that the State of Illinois donate 10 acres of land along Route 45 at the Shapiro Development Center in Kankakee, Illinois, to the County of Kankakee to be used to build a modern and more humane animal control center.

The current animal control center is obsolete. Dogs must live in dark, concrete cages while frightened cats live in tiny dark concrete cages above the dogs. Although there are some outdoor runs behind the building, these unwanted pets spend most of their time living in catacomb-like cages. Needless to say, it is very stressful on both the dogs and cats not to mention puppies and kittens. A stressed-out pet is much harder to adopt out.

Unfortunately, the euthanasia rates at the Kankakee County Animal Control center have been climbing after having declined for several years. This trend is detrimental to the animals at the facility and also leads to additional stress for the workers at the animal control facility who have to perform the procedures. We now have a chance to build a new animal control center that will give these pets a greater chance at getting a new leash on life.

Currently, there are ten acres of land located on Route 45/South Schuyler Avenue that are owned by the State of Illinois. If the land was donated, it would mean more dollars could go into building a new, modern animal control facility that gives these pets a better chance at getting out of the pound alive. The trend with shelters is to build them in very visible locations which are easily accessible to the public. Being located on Route 45, which is a busy thoroughfare, will bring more prospective adopters to the facility rather than being located in an isolated rural or industrial area.

The Kankakee County Animal Controls current facility is severely outdated and does not provide adequate conditions to house dogs and cats until they can be adopted. Thus, we believe that it is critical to enlist the State of Illinois support to help make ours a more humane county by donating the 10 acres of land on Route 45 to the County of Kankakee for a new Animal Control facility.