Tyler Regional Animal Control Shelter Project Moving Forward

Before he came to South Windsor, former Chief of Police Gary Tyler worked in California, where regionalized and shared services between municipalities were a way of life.

Not so when Tyler came to Connecticut, where he noticed three areas that he thought should be regionalized by the state’s municipalities : 9-1-1 services, jails and animal shelters.

“He never understood why there were 102 9-1-1 dispatch centers; why every town had to have its own jail and animal care facility,” said Tyler’s successor, South Windsor Chief of Police Matthew Reed.

Tyler unfortunately passed away several years ago. But he certainly would be proud to hear that plans for the Tyler Regional Animal Care Shelter, named for the former police chief and located in South Windsor at the vacant firehouse on Sullivan Avenue, are moving forward.

The plans call for Manchester and East Hartford to share in the use of the renovated facility, which will be converted from the firehouse with the use of a $400,000 CCROG grant that was awarded in 2007.

The latest project, which received final approval in March, was put out to bid and was recently awarded to Rockwell Builders in Tolland.

Up to this point, South Windsor paid the town of Vernon $20,000 a year to use its facility or used the Connecticut Humane Society’s building in Newington.

The town had looked at partnering with the Humane Society to build a facility at Evergreen Walk, but that project fell through “three or four years ago,” Reed said.

The converted firehouse idea represents the best option, Reed said, because the state grant, the building and the players were all in place.

It’s the right place at the right time and no one is spending any money, said Reed, noting that if South Windsor were to construct its own facility, it would cost in the neighborhood of $7 million because of the rules that are in place concerning how much space must be allotted per animal, etc. “There are a lot of rules. … Plus, we are required by law to do it. If someone says, ‘I need a place for my dog,’ we have to give that animal shelter. We can’t deny access.”

Reed said that the town sheltered 12 animals during last year’s snowstorm and accompanying power outages.

“We had a tortoise, snakes, birds,” Reed said. “We need to provide the service.”
Because of South Windsor’s agrarian roots, Reed said, he is also concerned about a scenario in which someone requests shelter for a horse, an alpaca or cow.

“The goal is to have a facility with enough space for goats, sheep, alpacas,” Reed said. “The Sullivan space is huge space with two acres of land.”

The project’s detractors, to the extent that there are any, have said that the Sullivan Avenue property was better suited to redevelopment to that it could be placed on the tax rolls.

The property was put on the market, but the town did not receive any viable bids, according to Reed.

What’s more, Reed said, the animal shelter should be placed in a decent location with a nice shelter where people are willing to visit and, ideally, adopt the animals.

“We need [the animal shelter] on a main thoroughfare, not near a sewage treatment plant,” Reed said. “The animals we have are good animals. The shelter should be easy to get to, looks good, smells good and where people don’t get sick once you get through the front door.”

The town council, for its part, backed the project.

“All the planets were aligned,” Councilor Jan Snyder said. “We had the place, the state grant and had a hard-working team of police officers. It’s a good thing for the town on many levels.

“It brings the community together; groups are already collecting money and donations and dog businesses are volunteering. All around, it’s a win/win/win.”

Tyler, according to Reed, would be proud that at least two other towns — with the possibility of others joining — will take advantage of the facility.

“To name [the facility] in his honor … that we are able to make this happen not just for his love of animals, but also because he saw the value of regionalizing municipal services, it makes sense,” Reed said. “He always saw that and that was his vision. It’s an appropriate honor and it will be wildly successful. People love their animals.”