Angels for Animals wants to build a 25,000-square-foot, 24-hour full-service veterinary clinic

June 19, 2015 at 7:33p.m.

GREENFORD

Fifteen years ago, Diane Less had a dream few thought would become a reality.

But in 2002, Angels for Animals built and opened a $3 million animal shelter and rental hall on 37 acres on state Route 165, the site of a former slaughterhouse. Before that, Angels operated first out of the homes and farms of Less and the organization’s other co-founder. It then moved into a former industrial chicken house before building the Route 165 facility.

Now, Less, Angels director and co-founder, has another dream: a 24-hour, seven-day full-service medical wing at the shelter.

Plans call for a 25,000-square-foot addition — more than twice the size of the existing shelter.

It will allow Angels to meet the growing need

for medical services, said Lauren Potts, Angels

outreach director.

“We have surgeries scheduled two to three weeks out,” she said. “We get 300 medical calls a day.”

One person fields those calls.

“In truth, we need it,” Potts said. “The community needs it.”

Of the 34 Angels employees, 20 of them are medical personnel, Less said.

But the Angels Wing has a higher purpose too.

It would help other shelters and animal rescue groups.

Those organizations stage fundraisers and then take animals in their charge to private veterinarians for vaccinations, spaying and neutering. Those costs add up, eating away at rescues’ raised dollars.

The Angels Wing would provide those same services, as well as emergency services, at a lower cost, Less said. It would be open to the public, offering full veterinary services.