Daphne Animal Shelter Opens

 The new Daphne Animal Shelter at 7145 Johnson Road is now open, Gulf Coast Media reports. “One of the great things about this facility is it is built for the next 20 years,” Mayor Robin LeJeune said at its opening ceremony. An aspect of it is for it to be a community center, which is why it includes a classroom that can be used for meetings. It also has meet-and-greet rooms for guests to have intimate experiences with the shelter’s animals, as well as “catios,” rooms for cats that connect to an open patio where cats can roam. The larger facility not only helps house the 800-1,000 animals a year (a number that continues to increase), it also looks to cover Daphne’s rapid growth. “We’re now moving into the City of Daphne, not just the Town of Daphne, with our growth, and that’s what this is about,” LeJeune said. Though staffed, the shelter has volunteering opportunities.