Commissioners, senators, animal shelter staff and volunteers all took turns breaking the ground on the site of Citrus County’s new animal shelter at 3150 W. Woodland Ridge Drive in Lecanto. The community has anxiously been waiting for this moment. As commissioners each put a shovel in the ground, hope was reignited for the local community.
Local resident and Citrus County Animal shelter volunteer, Abby Scowcroft was present at the ceremony. She shared a story about the last time she went to the shelter.
“The dogs didn’t have any air conditioning, they were just lying in their little cages, just panting and panting,” she said.
In Citrus County, average daily temperatures during summer months tend to stay in the upper 80’s. For animals at the current Citrus County Animal Services facility, this is an everyday reality. The new facility will not only have air conditioning for the animals but will also be able to accommodate large animal intakes with a 10,000 square foot increase in habitable space. Animal cruelty cases which require large intakes of animals can often overwhelm the shelter due to the lack of space.
Wanda Moak, president of the Citrus County Foundation for Animal Protection (CCFAP) was a familiar face to many who attended.
“The community is really for this, everyone saw the need and I feel like there’s a lot of support behind it,” she said.
Moak said CCFAP has been working towards this day for a long time.
“We have been involved from the start raising funds and speaking with commissioners and just working towards this goal,” she said.
CCFAP helps the local animal services facility through funding and caring for animals that require treatment Animal Services is unable to provide.
According to the Citrus County Animal Services page, they paused receiving animals on Jun 3, because of a recent large intake that took them to capacity.
Officials who gave remarks during the ceremony expressed their gratitude to the shelter staff and the community support. Commissioner Diana Finegan said the new shelter will alleviate many of the problems the current facility faces due to a lack of space. She took a moment to address the June 3rd incident which she said included 90 animals, some of which are livestock.
Senator Ralph Massullo expressed his gratitude for the hard work of local community members in making this day a reality. Massullo said he has seen firsthand the growth that Citrus County has had since he first moved in the 90’s.
“When I first moved to Citrus County, our population was one half of what it is today,” he said.
In his speech, he addressed the inadequacy of the shelter in its current state.
“Our animal shelter that we have right now down by the fairgrounds has outlived its useful life,” he said.
The estimated total cost of the new facility is $20.7 million. The county has already secured $4.7 million in donations and a $500,000 pledge from Senator Massullo. This pledge from Senator Massullo and his wife, Patricia, is the largest donation the county has received. The couple are long-time residents of Lecanto. The county also approved borrowing up to $15 million through bond financing. Any remaining costs will be covered through a public building impact fee. This kind of fee is used for public buildings that help improve a city’s infrastructure.
The shelter is set to open in the fall of 2027.