Lynne Meloccaro is on a mission to transform the way her community cares for its animals.
In 2018, Meloccaro was appointed executive director of the Dutchess County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York’s Hudson Valley. Although it’s the second oldest SPCA in the United States, founded in 1871, the organization had fallen on hard financial times.
Under Meloccaro’s leadership, the DCSPCA aims to become more of a community resource organization than a shelter. Whereas traditional shelters might simply take in animals and allow them to remain in the shelter for years, the DCSPCA is offering programs and services to the public designed to help people keep their animals. Field teams make home visits to help families improve dog behavior or teach cats to use the litter box, emergency medical payment programs help pay for expensive veterinary care, and the organization’s pet-food pantries help owners who are struggling financially to feed their animals.
Recently adopted Nitro pals around with DCSPCA animal caregiver Gab.
“It’s a more modern and progressive view of shelters that has really begun to take hold in the United States,” Meloccaro says.
After opening a new, modern building to house its shelter in 2015, the DCSPCA is embarking on the next phase of its revitalization by moving its medical clinic out of an obsolete 50-year-old structure. The organization brought in Germantown, N.Y., design firm PSA Studios and contractor Andlynn Construction to design an addition to the main building that would unify the operations. A philanthropic offer of free work from local propane provider Kimlin Energy Services cleared a costly obstacle to beginning the project.
Heating a veterinary facility
The new addition will allow the DCSPCA to provide better care for animals by offering a more sanitary space, Meloccaro says. “The old building was actually the original shelter building and really never suitable to be a medical facility.” The new facility will have a radiograph room, which wasn’t available in the old facility, and will have much better ventilation.
Given the DCSPCA’s financial situation, the project had very tight budget constraints. “A lot of our work has been focused on problem solving for them in this project,” says Peter Sweeney, owner and founder of PSA Studios. “Since it’s an addition, we’ve tried to work with building finishes and systems consistent with the existing building.”
The 11,000-square-foot main building uses propane water heaters and is heated by propane packaged rooftop units (RTUs). The 2,000-square-foot addition will use a 7.5-ton propane RTU along with an energy recovery ventilator, says Doug Strawinski, president of Andlynn Construction. “Seven and a half tons for 2,000 square feet is pretty big but only because it had to be designed to get fresh air into the building and yet still make it comfortable.”
Providing adequate ventilation and comfort is critical for a medical facility, especially in New York’s colder climate. “It’s hard enough for an animal to be in a shelter,” Meloccaro says. “The experience should be made as comfortable for them as possible by having adequate climate control.”
Learn more about the DCSPCA project and the role propane plays in commercial buildings at propane.com.
