Promising Cairo property brings animal shelter closer to reality

CAIRO― After years of volunteer work, fundraising, petitions and advocacy, the Greene County Animal Alliance is moving closer to achieving its long-standing goal of bringing a dedicated animal shelter back to Greene County.

Finding a suitable piece of land has been the organization's biggest obstacle. After considering more than two dozen properties without success, the GCAA is now optimistic that 4.5 acres in Cairo could finally provide the home it has long been searching for.

Representatives of the organization presented a sketch plan Thursday to the Town of Cairo Planning Board for a proposed animal shelter at 362 Route 145, just west of Frank Hitchcock Road.

The GCAA must still secure the land, which is privately owned, and complete necessary surveying before moving further through the town's planning and review process. The site currently consists of separate lots that the organization hopes to combine.

The location is appealing for several reasons. Its size and level terrain could accommodate the necessary facilities and outdoor enclosures, while its distance from residential properties would help minimize concerns about noise.

Greene County is one of the few counties in New York without its own animal shelter, leaving homeless cats and dogs dependent on facilities in neighboring counties.

The county once had a shelter operated by the Columbia-Greene Humane Society's Athens Division on Route 385, but it closed in 1998 after 31 years due to financial constraints.

Since 2023, the GCAA has raised more than $150,000 through donations, benefits, private grants and some 50 cash and coin boxes placed throughout the county.

"We need a no-kill shelter,” said Susan True, one of the founding board members of the Greene County Animal Alliance.

“We are in crisis mode,” she said.

True pointed to recent incidents involving animal neglect as evidence of the urgent need for a dedicated local facility.

In late October, the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA took in 158 cats from two separate animal cruelty investigations in approximately one week.  The unprecedented influx strained the organization's resources, with 40 of the rescued cats transferred to AnimalKind, a nonprofit cat rescue organization in Hudson, to help ease overcrowding.

For the GCAA, the goal is to provide a safe place for abandoned, sick and injured animals, particularly those rescued by volunteers who currently have limited options for placing them.

"I can trap and I can rescue animals all day. But if I have nowhere to put them, it's a moot point,” said True, emphasizing that the proposed facility is intended to operate as an animal shelter, rather than a humane society, with a focus on providing care and refuge for cats and dogs in need.

Board Member Mark Gorelick described several features the group plans to incorporate into the facility, including adequate ventilation, isolation rooms for animals requiring separation, proper fencing, kennels and access to veterinary services. The GCAA also hopes to offer low-cost spaying and neutering to help address animal overpopulation.

"The idea of getting this land has given us momentum," Gorelick said.

Securing the property would also make the GCAA eligible to pursue potential state construction grants, funding that has remained out of reach without a site.

“There are hundreds of thousands of dollars available,” Gorelick has pointed out. “But you have to have the land first.”

The GCAA also has an opportunity to double some of its fundraising efforts through an anonymous donor who has offered to match $10,000 raised by the organization, provided it can independently raise that amount by December 25.

"We are going to do it," True said. "There are volunteers and donors and people that want us to succeed and businesses that can help."