It’s been an exciting start to the year for the City of Troy with the completion of several highly anticipated projects, and the Pike Animal Shelter will soon join that list.

Mayor Jason Reeves said the city is shooting for a February opening to the new shelter.

Jacqueline Meeks, director of the shelter, said that the shelter fills a great need for the city as the current pound is overrun with animals.

“We’ve been waiting for years for this shelter,” Meeks said. “We really needed it with the amount of animals that we take into the facilities … I don’t think many people realized just how many animals we had.”

Meeks said the new shelter, which is mostly completed minus a few construction needs, is a great setup for the city and partnering volunteer organizations.

“We have kennels in the back and we have isolation rooms, bathtubs, bathing areas – it’s incredible,” Meeks said. “It’s so nice.”

Meeks said an exact capacity for the shelter is hard to determine, but that it could easily fit 100 cats and there are 16 runs for larger dogs and one large room for smaller dogs.

Meeks is currently seeking donations and volunteers for the shelter.

“We really want the community and volunteers to be involved,” Meeks said. “We have volunteer applications that can be filled out up front at the shelter and they can spend as much time as they’d like here. We’d also like to have a foster care in case we get overrun.”

The shelter’s wish list for items include towels, dog and cat food, litter, litter boxes, toys and sanitizers. Donations can be dropped off at Troy Animal Clinic or at Pike Animal Shelter at 800 Henderson Highway.