With new name, building, animal shelter takes mission statewide

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 7/16/15

After nearly 80 years of serving Rhode Island’s needy and homeless animals, one shelter, Animal Rescue Rhode Island (ARRI), opened a new 7,000-square-foot facility last month in Peace Dale.

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With new name, building, animal shelter takes mission statewide

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After nearly 80 years of serving Rhode Island’s needy and homeless animals, one shelter, Animal Rescue Rhode Island (ARRI), opened a new 7,000-square-foot facility last month in Peace Dale.

One month into operations, both Executive Director Tammy Walter and Board of Directors President Doug Rubinstein said the shelter, formerly known as the Animal Rescue League of Southern Rhode Island, has been a huge success for the people and animals it serves.

In the early 2000s, the shelter looked to expand its facility, but after the recession hit, Walter said it was a struggle just to keep the doors open.

Walter joined the ARRI team in 2009 before being promoted to executive director in April 2013. She said the building was just old and getting to a point beyond repair.

Then, just over two years ago, ARRI receive a bequest of $750,000 from an old donor, and Walter said it “brought their dream alive.”

“We really pulled together as a team to make sure this happened,” Rubinstein said. “We saw the opportunity to realize our vision for a new building, and we took it.”

ARRI, a no-kill shelter, receives no municipal state or federal funding, relying instead on private donations. In June 2013, ARRI broke ground on the two-year, $2.2 million Peace Dale project.

Walter and Rubinstein both agreed the shelter has an amazing following of donors and volunteers who really stepped up to the challenge. The shelter continued operations throughout the construction process.

In working with the neighborhoods surrounding the shelter, and the special permit, ARRI couldn’t “significantly increase” its animal capacity. As of now, the shelter can house 20 adult dogs and 44 adult cats.

Out of the old building, the ARRI annually serviced 400 cats and dogs, and although they cannot house many more animals than they did previously, Walters said that even in just a month of operations the turnover of animals has been much quicker.

“Every cage and kennel works,” Walter said. “They are the best out there. Our animals now have a better and happier atmosphere for both our animals and those coming in to adopt. This makes our animals more adoptable. When you do it right, you do it better.”

One unique aspect to the shelter’s state-of-the-art and energy efficient facility is their community room, which

Rubinstein said, “really enables us to implement programs that are true to our mission.”

In the community room, the ARRI plans on hosting humane education courses on various topics like baby-ready pet classes and visits from summer camps or Boy and Girl Scout troops.

ARRI will also be hosting Canine Academy, a training series for rescue dogs. These classes can range from basic training to therapy, comfort or rescue dog training.

ARRI hosted a “Ribbon Chewing” for their grand opening the weekend of June 6, and Walter and Rubinstein said more than 1,000 people visited the shelter in just three days.

The shelter was full to capacity on opening day, and about half of the animals were adopted by the end of the weekend.

Rubinstein said having everyone involved in the process with donors and volunteers was rewarding. Some people were even crying, according to Walter.

“People had been so invested in us and our success that they were moved,” she said.

Although many there had been with ARRI from the beginning, Walter said that over half of the people who came to the grand opening were “new faces.”

With the grand opening came the shelter’s name change, which Walter said was a long time coming.

Although the shelter had been identified with Southern Rhode Island, 90 percent of their animals come from all over New England, and the shelter has even saved nearly 800 cats and dogs from high-kill shelters in the South since 2011.

Similarly, about 50 percent of the adoptees are coming from places all around the state.

“The name is just playing catch up to trend that’s been going on for years,” Walter said.

Rubinstein said, “although our heart is here in South Kingstown, our reach is much broader, and we wanted a name that reflected that mission.”

The shelter, located at 506B Curtis Corner Road in Wakefield (Peace Dale), still has “naming opportunities” throughout the new facility for generous donors, and is looking for new volunteers.

For more information on or to donate, visit www.animalrescueri.org or call at 401-783-7606.

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