Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue has posted renderings of its planned $4.9 million animal sanctuary in Leicester. The renderings go along with a spiffy website detailing the new no-kill sanctuary. The plans are ambitious, to say the least.
Construction hasn’t started yet on the ambitious project, which was announced two years ago. But these renderings offer a glimpse of what Brother Wolf says is to come. Some highlights:
-The Dogs Village and Dog Park: This will include “custom-designed housing for the special needs dogs in our care,” according to BWAR. “The facilities will be designed to minimize noise, optimize fresh air and natural light, and promote healing.” The dog park will have a splash pool and dog agility course.
-Cats Village and Cat Cafe: The Cat Village will be designed for cats needing acute and long-term care. There will be individual outdoor spaces, called “catios,” for cats medically able to go outside. The Cat Village will also have a Cat Cafe, “where guests can enjoy local-sourced foods and beverages while hanging out with our cats. There will be a reading room for the coffee and tea crowd to read to cats, and a protected outdoor dining space for folks who just enjoy casual company with cats.”
-Veterinary clinic: Brother Wolf continues to raise money to build its own vet clinic. The organization says the state of the art facility “will fulfill our typical medical, surgical, and radiology needs as well as routine lab work and ongoing dental and outpatient care.” Brother Wolf says it currently spends $40,000 to $60,000 a month on veterinary care. By bringing it in-house, it says it can cut those costs in half.
-Farm Animal Rescue: This is a new mission for Brother Wolf, who says “the addition of rescued farmed animals at our sanctuary will provide visitors an opportunity to get to know these animals as we have. Their intelligence and humor, playfulness and gentleness, love and friendship can be transformational. It is our hope that visitors will have a chance to meet and interact with these animals in the unique setting of our Sanctuary, and be inspired to consider our core ethic of Uncompromised Compassion for all animals.”
-Learning Center: This conference center would have a 250-seat meeting hall and commercial kitchen for larger groups, and separate classrooms for smaller group learning, according to Brother Wolf. It’s mission “is to provide a state of the art facility for humane education and values-based organizational and community development. The Learning Center will be a central hub of activity at the Sanctuary, where all our volunteers and staff will gather daily to strategize, launch and assess our ongoing animal care activities.”
-Guest cabins: An unspecified number of cabins would be available for guests and out-of-town volunteers
Brother Wolf caught some members of the community off guard recently when it announced that it plans to close its Asheville shelter, sell the property (it’s listed at $910,000) and temporarily stop taking in animals later this year as it transitions to the new sanctuary. Some staff members will also be laid off during the transition.
In June 2015, Brother Wolf announced plans to build the $4.9 million no-kill animal sanctuary on 82 acres of land that an anonymous donor purchased for the organization off North Turkey Creek Road in Leicester. The new sanctuary, which could hold up to 1,200 dogs and cats, would provide critical care for severely abused animals that require longer-term and specialized rehabilitation, Executvie Director Denise Bitz said at the time.
