The Bristol Animal Shelter was recently designed as a Rhode Island Emergency Pet Shelter by the Department of Environmental Management (DEM). This designation authorizes the Bristol Animal Shelter to lodge household pets in times of an emergency disaster, such as severe weather events.

The Shelter joins four other designated Emergency Pet Shelters throughout the state and has become the first such Animal Shelter in the East Bay.

The process of achieving certification from the Department of Environmental Management required the Bristol Animal Shelter to meet several criteria, including the acquisition and installation of an emergency generator as an alternate power source. The Bristol Police Department, through the diligence of Lt. Roman Wozny, was awarded a $62,000 grant by the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency for the acquisition and installation of a 100KW generator. To offset additional costs of the generator installation, John Lannan, owner of JML Excavation, Inc. in Bristol, donated his time, equipment, and material to install a concert pad for the generator foundation.

Stakeholders present full plan

The Bristol Town Council held a public workshop last Wednesday night to hear a presentation by the Friends of the Bristol Animal Shelter. Presented by consultant Jennifer Bristol and board member Betty Brito, the Friends shared a draft strategic plan with the stated goal of increasing the shelter’s utilization and organizational capacity.

Some of the key areas they propose addressing include broadening the intake policy to admit more animals; offering programming and learning opportunities for all ages that educate and inspire responsible pet ownership; establishing the in-house education center as a meeting space and event venue; offering temporary housing for the pets of individuals experiencing financial or domestic hardship; partnering with other rescue organizations to provide pre-adoption housing (the Friends are already licensed for interstate rescue); establishing a robust volunteer program; providing support for accessing veterinary services; and building community engagement.

Though the workshop was not a forum to move forward with policy decisions, the Friends found a warm reception from town officials, including the Council, Town Administrator Steven Contente, and Police Chief Kevin Lynch. A memorandum of understanding between the Friends and the Town is likely the next step.

Mr. Contente addressed some of the animosity that arose after longtime shelter volunteers caught wind of the fact that the town had entered conversations with other municipalities as well as the RISPCA, in an effort to explore ways to better utilize the town’s state-of-the-art shelter. “Once we saw that there were such hard feelings, we backed off” from those conversations, said Mr. Contente of the stance the Town took while awaiting the strategic plan from the Friends.

“The volunteers have done a great job, we have a beautiful building, and we just need to keep the lines of communication open, in both directions,” said Mr. Contente.