Animal Charity of Ohio Board President Shelly Marlowe demonstrates the features of the facility’s new veterinary surgery center during its grand opening Monday afternoon.

BOARDMAN — Animal Charity of Ohio is consolidating its resources for the first time in a single, multipurpose building sequestered among the industrial workshops off Southern Boulevard in Boardman.

The charity celebrated the move with an open house on Monday. Several hundred well-wishers attended, and cars were parked along the access roads all the way back to Southern Boulevard.

Festivities included a bake sale, a 50/50 raffle, gift basket sales, food trucks, a bar and an on-site masseuse. Music accompanied the party from speakers elevated above the southern lawn of the building.

Animal Charity is a “no kill” shelter that will board animals rescued from abuse and abandonment cases in Mahoning County for as long as it takes to find them new homes.

Before this move, the charity was located in two separate spaces, one in Canfield and one in Boardman. Services were split between the two locations, sometimes complicating its mission to take in and treat abandoned and abused animals.

“This is like a dream to be able to keep our animals under one roof,” Board President Shelly Marlowe of Canfield said. “Animal Charity has never been under one roof before, and I don’t know a staff that deserves this more than they do. We are one cohesive unit, finally.”

The old locations were not adequate for the number of animals the charity took in, nor were they equipped for the types of services the animals needed. The old center in Boardman on Market Street, for instance, was a former bank and never designed to accommodate animals.

The new 24,000-square-foot building of Southern Boulevard will house two wings — one for dogs and one for cats — and an expansive outdoor play area.

In addition, the new location boasts a surgery center, an X-ray room, two indoor play areas, and a designated big animal area for large-breed dogs or even horses if they can no longer be kept at their farms.

One room is a dedicated grooming spa, and the new location will have a veterinarian on site three to four days a week.

Four “family rooms” will allow potential adoptees to meet their new pets in private and allow volunteers to interact with animals so they have frequent human contact.

The surgery center will have permanent cameras installed by the Mahoning Valley Prosecutor’s Office to record evidence of abuse or neglect on incoming animals.

Staff hope to have construction on the facility completed by the end of August. In total, the new location will be able to hold up to 460 animals at one time. The charity employs 20 full-time staff and usually around 40 volunteers.

“I look forward to a staff who can work and not leave burnt-out because they are constantly going between different facilities,” Marlowe said.

There will be opportunities for more volunteers in the future, but the charity will not be training for at least two months while construction is completed.

The only animals housed in the building are cats and a turtle that were left homeless after the May 28 gas explosion in the Realty Building in downtown Youngstown. These animals are being housed at Animal Charity temporarily, but will be returned to their owners once they find new housing, Marlowe said.

Board member Jenny Falvey, who works in Boardman but lives in Sharpsville, Pa., also runs the behavioral rehabilitation program for Animal Charity.

“We have a comprehensive plan for each of the dogs that enter the facility,” she said.

Staff and volunteers work to rehabilitate animals that have behavioral issues so they can safely enter new families’ homes.

The new building is perfect for this effort, she said.

“For the animals it gives them so much more space,” Falvey said. “It gives us the ability to work with them. For the dogs, it’s going to give us the opportunity to do playgroups and have an area where they can really get exercise and just be able to work with them a lot better.”

The charity is holding a capital campaign to help with construction costs. Suggested donations for specific spaces and items run from $20 to $10,000.

Anyone interested in volunteering or donating to the charity should visit the Animal Charity of Ohio website at www.animalcharityofohio.org/ and look for the “volunteer,” “donation” or “capital campaign” tabs. The charity can also accept donations by check; send checks to 8469 Southern Blvd., Boardman, OH, 44512.

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