Dog Adoption Network - Animal Welfare by Design

Animal Welfare By Design

In 1986, animal welfare took a giant leap forward with the dedication of the Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control Center in Chicopee, MA. This 10,000 sq. ft. cinder-block building was simply designed as a safe but basic dog pound. It had many problems from its beginning: Insufficient air circulation, limited power, poor drainage, no veterinarian office or outside runs.


Old (current) TJO Building	New TJO Shelter

When the new Cottage Street Shelter is dedicated this fall, it will truly be "state of the art". Visitors will walk down skylit hallways called The Adoption Mall, be able to meet dogs and cats in a quiet Consultation Room, and have functions in the shelter's Educational Room. A veterinarian and vet. technician room will provide routine medical care and first aid.

The City of Springfield deserves much credit under the direction of Thomas Haberlin for insisting that the new shelter be designed by an architectural firm that had specific knowledge on animal sheltering.

The architectural firm, EDM of West Hartford, was selected to design the shelter with special consulting services by Martha Seng of Jackson & Ryan, Texas. Ron Griffin, EDM's President, stated he was looking forward to the project and working with Martha, who had designed many animal shelters, and worked with EDM from her office based in Texas. Ron has an emotional attachment to the Center because he lived in the area and is the proud owner of two Border Collies (Nell and Casey). A particular emphasis of their design was to "provide animal comfort". Ron stressed that the shelter project was a team effort and had great praise for Martha Seng for her dedication to animal welfare design.

Warren Sieber, Project Architect on the construction site, commented that in the past he was best known for his design of sports facilities and a contributing architect for the Foxwoods Casino. Warren was particularly pleased with the design of the airflow system, which vented out kennel odors from the facility. In addition, the new sound-proof materials will make for a quieter building. Like Ron, Warren has two pets at home...a Dachsund, which he refers to as a hotdog, (that's Eva), and a Basset Hound ( Monroe.)

Warren enjoyed working on the kennel areas because of their complexity and detail, including concrete floors that slanted to provide proper drainage.

When asked how the shelter differed from other projects he worked on, Warren stated "this project was truly a team effort by the City, developer, general contractor, architects, engineers, and end users working in a concert toward the common goal of building a facility to create a humane environment for misplaced animals."

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