Delaware SPCA sells Georgetown shelter, reopens Stanton

The Delaware SPCA has agreed to sell its Georgetown shelter to the Brandywine Valley SPCA and reopen its flagship Stanton shelter to adoptable animals later this summer, leaders of both organizations announced Thursday.

Both nonprofit animal welfare organizations would not disclose the purchase price of the 45-year-old building on Dupont Boulevard, which was last renovated in 2004.

Totaling more than 6,000 square feet, the facility is assessed at more than $545,000, according to property records. The land on which the building sits will continue to be owned by the state Department of Correction and leased for a nominal fee to the Brandywine Valley SPCA.

BACKGROUND:Delaware SPCA Stanton location will reopen

The West Chester, Pennsylvania-based Brandywine Valley SPCA, which handles animal control for Delaware, plans to take over the Georgetown building this year. The transition will involve roughly doubling the number of animals available at the facility, including placing homeless animals from across the region and country there as space permits. 

Currently, the Delaware SPCA website lists 21 cats and dogs available for adoption in Georgetown. Those animals will remain at the location during and after the transition if they aren't adopted out sooner.

The Brandywine Valley SPCA will keep the Georgetown facility's current phone number and will retain animal records there for the last five years. The organization also plans to extend adoption hours and grow low-cost spay and neuter surgeries, other affordable veterinary services and trap-neuter-return programs for feral cats in Sussex, Brandywine SPCA spokeswoman Linda Torelli said.

Georgetown renovations will be funded, in part, by community and private donations, and will include new cat community rooms, upgraded dog housing, lobby improvements and clinic equipment upgrades.

"We're looking forward to expanding the services we offer in Sussex County while helping another shelter achieve its strategic goals," said Adam Lamb, Brandywine Valley SPCA CEO, in a statement.  

Nichole Bower, owner of Happy Tails Pet Retreat in Georgetown, welcomed more low-cost veterinary options in the area, especially since 5 to 10 cats are abandoned at her kennel's door each year.  

"We don't have a lot of options for cats without paying an arm and a leg," she said.

By giving up its Georgetown facility, the Delaware SPCA will be able to reopen its Stanton shelter to adoptable animals later this summer and expand veterinary services, Delaware SPCA leaders said.

"Sussex County residents will benefit from a much-needed state-of-the-art facility almost immediately — much more quickly than we would have been able to provide," Delaware SPCA Board President Diane Ferry said in a statement Thursday.

The nonprofit's board voted to close and sell its flagship facility off Stanton Christiana Road last summer due to mounting debt. The decision came less than a year after the board spent hundreds of thousands of dollars refurbishing the facility and after the state Office of Animal Welfare awarded a three-year, $6.5 million animal control contract to the Brandywine Valley SPCA over the Delaware SPCA.

News of the Stanton shelter's imminent closure sparked public outcry; Delaware SPCA leaders eventually decided to reopen it last fall for monthly vaccine clinics.

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As the state's oldest animal welfare organization, the Delaware SPCA once handled dog control for all three counties but has seen its market share erode over the years due to fiscal challenges.

Most recently, the organization's former executive director, Andrea Perlak, was criticized for pursuing costly for-profit ventures on the Stanton property that never materialized, such as a commercial retail strip and an estimated $1.4 million doggie daycare and boarding services, at the expense of the SPCA's core mission of preventing animal cruelty. Perlak resigned last summer.

Last year, nearly a third of the dogs entering the Brandywine Valley SPCA came from Sussex County, Adding the Georgetown location will allow those animals to be rehomed locally and gives the Brandywine Valley SPCA adoption outlets in all three counties. The Brandywine Valley SPCA already runs a shelter at 600 South St. in old New Castle and an adoption center at the PetSmart in Dover. 

The Georgetown shelter will remain open during the sale, and the Brandywine Valley SPCA plans to fill many of the positions with current staff. Both SPCAs will remain independent but expect to collaborate moving forward.

Following the takeover, the Georgetown location will continue to be the only full-service animal shelter in Sussex. In 2013, the no-kill Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary in Georgetown closed due to mounting bills.

Previously, the Brandywine Valley SPCA had to lease space in Sussex to hold stray animals. On Tuesday, a pit bull terrier picked up by animal control and held at All Aboard Grooming and Kennels in Dagsboro attacked a state animal control officer and was fatally shot by Dagsboro police. The Office of Animal Welfare and the Brandywine Valley SPCA continue to investigate the incident.

​​​​​​STORY:Officer shoots, kills dog during attack on animal control officer

Contact Margie Fishman at 302-324-2882, on Twitter @MargieTrende or mfishman@delawareonline.com.