June 6, 2025 • 8 mins
In this episode, host Phil Tower welcomes Angela Hollinshead, Director of the Kent County Animal Shelter.Angela joined us to talk about the reopening of the Kent County Animal Shelter in its primary location after three months of renovations.
The shelter’s animals were moved to a temporary facility nearly a mile away from the current home on Fuller Avenue Northeast in January and then moved back to the main location at 740 Fuller Ave. NE in April. The shelter has now reopened to the public with improved amenities designed to enhance animal care and community services.
Angela told us they have plenty of pets available for adoption, and the process is simplified and easy.
Learn more about pet adoption by visiting the Kent County Animal Shelter’s website.
The shelter’s animals were moved to a temporary facility nearly a mile away from the current home on Fuller Avenue Northeast in January and then moved back to the main location at 740 Fuller Ave. NE in April. The shelter has now reopened to the public with improved amenities designed to enhance animal care and community services.
Angela told us they have plenty of pets available for adoption, and the process is simplified and easy.
Learn more about pet adoption by visiting the Kent County Animal Shelter’s website.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly programmed designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
In this segment, we've got some exciting news new digs
for the Kent County Animal Shelter. The Kent County Animals
Shelter has reopened its primary location after quite a bit
of upheaval, moving animals back in January to a temporary
facility and then in April moving them back home. And
now all the paint is dry, everything is new and shiny,
(00:40):
looks beautiful. They just had an open house this past Monday,
and we thought we'd catch up again with Angela hollins Head.
She's the director of the Kent County Animal Shelter. Probably
having a big exhale and a deep breath after a
long week. How's it feel to be in the new digs, Angela?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I will speak for all of our staff and probably
all of our animals when I say we are all
happy to be back home into our actual building.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, I'll bet. And just as a reminder for our listeners,
You're accessible off of Fuller Northeast in the same complex.
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yep, We're located in the Fuller Complex of Kent County
and we're between the Kent County Health Department and the
Kent County Sheriff's Department.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
And what are your hours? Just so people know, because
I know you're going to be talking about some adoptable pets.
That's a very important focus of our conversation here on iHeartRadio.
What are your hours, Angela?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
So we're open Monday through Saturday and on so Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday. So during the week we open up
at one o'clock and we're generally open until six, but
we are open late on Wednesday and Thursday until seven
pm for those of you who want to come and
visit us, maybe after you get out of work or
after you get the kids from school. So again, Wednesday
(01:58):
and Thursday, we're here from one until the rest of
the week. During the week, we're here one till six,
and we do have Saturday hours, so if during the
week doesn't really work out for you, you can come
visit us from ten am to one pm on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
A lot of opportunities to come look at adoptable pets.
But let's first of all go back to the renovation.
You guys really needed to upgrade your space for your sake,
for the animal's sake. Let's talk about some of the
new benefits in the newly reopened Kent County Animal Shelter.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, so our building is quickly approaching being twenty years
old and we have not had a flooring renovation since
the building was built, so naturally, with time to really
look at the condition of the flooring throughout the building.
The Kent County Animal Shelter is about twenty six thousand
square feet, so it's a sizeable space. Most of the
flooring is like a resinous epoxy coating flooring and it
(02:52):
had failed in quite a few spots. So we have
really high standards of care here at the Kent County
Animal Shelter for how we care for our pets, and
it was really important to us that we met quality standards.
We are a Michigan Department of Agriculture registered animal shelter,
so we do have a set of guidelines that we
follow as far as how our building needs to be
(03:14):
conditioned as well, and it was time to floor, like
I said, was failing in several spots, and it was
due for our renovation. What that meant is we had
to find a new place to temporarily call home for
dozens and dozens of animals and about twenty staff members.
So we really went on the hunt to try to
find a temporary location that worked for us. We were
(03:35):
thankful to find a warehouse with some office spaces just
about a mile from the existing shelter and we actually
moved forty animals, forty dogs and handful of cats and
twenty staff to this temporary site and we were there
for twelve weeks while they were renovating our flooring.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
That's a long time, but that's also a pretty quick turnaround.
Did it go as well as you had hoped it?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Did? We set a time in line with our project manager,
who worked for Kent County, of twelve weeks. We figured
we thought we could pull it off in twelve weeks,
And what happened was we decided since the building was
relatively empty and we didn't have any animals to have
to worry about smells or dust or noise, we decided
to just go full tilt and whenever we could get
(04:19):
done well. We had the opportunity we did so we
actually ended up with fresh paint on all of the walls,
so it has a nice, bright, fresh look to it.
So it's more inviting and more friendly of a space.
And we did a lot of a lot of minor
upgrades in the building. One of my favorites was actually
(04:39):
just switching the doors on the dryer. We have two
massive washing machines and two massive dryers. We do laundry
all day long, every day, and the dryer doors opened opposite.
So one of the minor things that we did this
makes staff life easier, was we switched the way the
doors opened on the dryer. We had the time to
do it. We weren't run laundry at the time, so
(05:01):
we took the opportunity to make that switch, and a
lot of little things like that throughout the building that
really just benefit the staff and the animals.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Angela hollins Head is with us on this edition of
West Michigan Weekend on iHeartRadio talking about a newly renovated,
newly reopened Kent County Animal Shelter, and you can learn
more at kentcountymi dot gov slash Animal shelter. You just
google Ken County Animal Shelter your web page, by the way,
the Ken County Animal Shelter web page. It's absolutely beautiful
(05:33):
and there are adoptable pets on there right now, cats, dogs,
You occasionally have small mammals and occasionally farm animals.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Wow, that's one I did not know. That's kind of cool.
Let's talk about the needs though, Angela. You told me
earlier you have adoptable dogs. You're really kind of bursting
at the scenes with dogs, and let's talk about that
process before we run of time. Someone wants to come
look at dogs, adopted dog real quickly run us through
(06:05):
that process.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Yeah. So we use the adopter's welcome method when we
do our adoption. So we want to make adoption accessible
and easy for people. When somebody decides that they want
to add a pat to their home, we hope that
it comes from us, and we want to help facilitate
that the best we can. When people visit us to adopt,
whether it's a dog or cat, we take a survey.
It's not an application. You're not applying to adopt a dog.
(06:28):
It's just a survey and it's kind of like pet matchmaking.
It helps explain to us what your home life is like,
what your activity level is, things that you like to do,
if you have other pets in your home, and we
use that to make suggestions for the pets that we
have in this shelter that would be a good fit
for you and your family and your home life. And
then once we kind of find a couple pets that
(06:50):
you think you might be interested in, we have really
nice we call them get Acquainted rooms. It's a quiet
space where you can sit down with the pet that
you're looking at adopting and have someone on one time
to meet them. You can take them outside for a
walk around the grounds. We are very lucky here at
the Kent County Animal Shelter. We have a lot of
green space on the campus, so you can take the
dog out for a walk, get to know it a
(07:10):
little bit, and see if it's really just the match
that you're looking for. These dogs and these casts, they are
all fixed, they're vaccinated, they're micro chips, the dogs are
heartworm tested, and they have a vet exam. They come
with flee and kick preventatives and a dog license and
you get all of that for one hundred and forty
seven dollars.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
That's a great deal.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Which is a great deal. We have an amazing veterinarian
here on staff at the shelter who does all of
our exams and all of our medical care. So we're
really proud that these guys going out the door, they've
had a lot of wellness checks and they've had a
lot of medical done, and we can we can continue
to do that for a really nice low cost of
the one hundred and forty seven dollars. We have over
eighty dogs in the shelter and a lot of them
(07:51):
are fixed and vaccinated and they're ready to be adopted.
And we have every shape and size imaginable. So whatever
you're looking for, there's a good chance we might have
something similar or cloth if we can get there. I
hear you.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Hey, thanks so much for joining us, and again it's
Kent countymi dot gov forward slash Animal Shelter. Angela Hollins,
head director of the Kent County Animal Shelter, with us
on this segment of West Michigan Weekend.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
You've been listening to iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan
Weekend is a production of Wood Radio and iHeartRadio,
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly programmed designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
In this segment, we've got some exciting news new digs
for the Kent County Animal Shelter. The Kent County Animals
Shelter has reopened its primary location after quite a bit
of upheaval, moving animals back in January to a temporary
facility and then in April moving them back home. And
now all the paint is dry, everything is new and shiny,
(00:40):
looks beautiful. They just had an open house this past Monday,
and we thought we'd catch up again with Angela hollins Head.
She's the director of the Kent County Animal Shelter. Probably
having a big exhale and a deep breath after a
long week. How's it feel to be in the new digs, Angela?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I will speak for all of our staff and probably
all of our animals when I say we are all
happy to be back home into our actual building.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, I'll bet. And just as a reminder for our listeners,
You're accessible off of Fuller Northeast in the same complex.
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yep, We're located in the Fuller Complex of Kent County
and we're between the Kent County Health Department and the
Kent County Sheriff's Department.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
And what are your hours? Just so people know, because
I know you're going to be talking about some adoptable pets.
That's a very important focus of our conversation here on iHeartRadio.
What are your hours, Angela?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
So we're open Monday through Saturday and on so Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday. So during the week we open up
at one o'clock and we're generally open until six, but
we are open late on Wednesday and Thursday until seven
pm for those of you who want to come and
visit us, maybe after you get out of work or
after you get the kids from school. So again, Wednesday
(01:58):
and Thursday, we're here from one until the rest of
the week. During the week, we're here one till six,
and we do have Saturday hours, so if during the
week doesn't really work out for you, you can come
visit us from ten am to one pm on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
A lot of opportunities to come look at adoptable pets.
But let's first of all go back to the renovation.
You guys really needed to upgrade your space for your sake,
for the animal's sake. Let's talk about some of the
new benefits in the newly reopened Kent County Animal Shelter.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, so our building is quickly approaching being twenty years
old and we have not had a flooring renovation since
the building was built, so naturally, with time to really
look at the condition of the flooring throughout the building.
The Kent County Animal Shelter is about twenty six thousand
square feet, so it's a sizeable space. Most of the
flooring is like a resinous epoxy coating flooring and it
(02:52):
had failed in quite a few spots. So we have
really high standards of care here at the Kent County
Animal Shelter for how we care for our pets, and
it was really important to us that we met quality standards.
We are a Michigan Department of Agriculture registered animal shelter,
so we do have a set of guidelines that we
follow as far as how our building needs to be
(03:14):
conditioned as well, and it was time to floor, like
I said, was failing in several spots, and it was
due for our renovation. What that meant is we had
to find a new place to temporarily call home for
dozens and dozens of animals and about twenty staff members.
So we really went on the hunt to try to
find a temporary location that worked for us. We were
(03:35):
thankful to find a warehouse with some office spaces just
about a mile from the existing shelter and we actually
moved forty animals, forty dogs and handful of cats and
twenty staff to this temporary site and we were there
for twelve weeks while they were renovating our flooring.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
That's a long time, but that's also a pretty quick turnaround.
Did it go as well as you had hoped it?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Did? We set a time in line with our project manager,
who worked for Kent County, of twelve weeks. We figured
we thought we could pull it off in twelve weeks,
And what happened was we decided since the building was
relatively empty and we didn't have any animals to have
to worry about smells or dust or noise, we decided
to just go full tilt and whenever we could get
(04:19):
done well. We had the opportunity we did so we
actually ended up with fresh paint on all of the walls,
so it has a nice, bright, fresh look to it.
So it's more inviting and more friendly of a space.
And we did a lot of a lot of minor
upgrades in the building. One of my favorites was actually
(04:39):
just switching the doors on the dryer. We have two
massive washing machines and two massive dryers. We do laundry
all day long, every day, and the dryer doors opened opposite.
So one of the minor things that we did this
makes staff life easier, was we switched the way the
doors opened on the dryer. We had the time to
do it. We weren't run laundry at the time, so
(05:01):
we took the opportunity to make that switch, and a
lot of little things like that throughout the building that
really just benefit the staff and the animals.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Angela hollins Head is with us on this edition of
West Michigan Weekend on iHeartRadio talking about a newly renovated,
newly reopened Kent County Animal Shelter, and you can learn
more at kentcountymi dot gov slash Animal shelter. You just
google Ken County Animal Shelter your web page, by the way,
the Ken County Animal Shelter web page. It's absolutely beautiful
(05:33):
and there are adoptable pets on there right now, cats, dogs,
You occasionally have small mammals and occasionally farm animals.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Wow, that's one I did not know. That's kind of cool.
Let's talk about the needs though, Angela. You told me
earlier you have adoptable dogs. You're really kind of bursting
at the scenes with dogs, and let's talk about that
process before we run of time. Someone wants to come
look at dogs, adopted dog real quickly run us through
(06:05):
that process.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Yeah. So we use the adopter's welcome method when we
do our adoption. So we want to make adoption accessible
and easy for people. When somebody decides that they want
to add a pat to their home, we hope that
it comes from us, and we want to help facilitate
that the best we can. When people visit us to adopt,
whether it's a dog or cat, we take a survey.
It's not an application. You're not applying to adopt a dog.
(06:28):
It's just a survey and it's kind of like pet matchmaking.
It helps explain to us what your home life is like,
what your activity level is, things that you like to do,
if you have other pets in your home, and we
use that to make suggestions for the pets that we
have in this shelter that would be a good fit
for you and your family and your home life. And
then once we kind of find a couple pets that
(06:50):
you think you might be interested in, we have really
nice we call them get Acquainted rooms. It's a quiet
space where you can sit down with the pet that
you're looking at adopting and have someone on one time
to meet them. You can take them outside for a
walk around the grounds. We are very lucky here at
the Kent County Animal Shelter. We have a lot of
green space on the campus, so you can take the
dog out for a walk, get to know it a
(07:10):
little bit, and see if it's really just the match
that you're looking for. These dogs and these casts, they are
all fixed, they're vaccinated, they're micro chips, the dogs are
heartworm tested, and they have a vet exam. They come
with flee and kick preventatives and a dog license and
you get all of that for one hundred and forty
seven dollars.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
That's a great deal.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Which is a great deal. We have an amazing veterinarian
here on staff at the shelter who does all of
our exams and all of our medical care. So we're
really proud that these guys going out the door, they've
had a lot of wellness checks and they've had a
lot of medical done, and we can we can continue
to do that for a really nice low cost of
the one hundred and forty seven dollars. We have over
eighty dogs in the shelter and a lot of them
(07:51):
are fixed and vaccinated and they're ready to be adopted.
And we have every shape and size imaginable. So whatever
you're looking for, there's a good chance we might have
something similar or cloth if we can get there. I
hear you.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Hey, thanks so much for joining us, and again it's
Kent countymi dot gov forward slash Animal Shelter. Angela Hollins,
head director of the Kent County Animal Shelter, with us
on this segment of West Michigan Weekend.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
You've been listening to iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan
Weekend is a production of Wood Radio and iHeartRadio,
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