Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary

Illustration of dog rooms

Safe Haven Medical Wing

We are proud to announce that construction of our new building is finished. We are now filling the building with equipment in preparation for the dogs and cats who will live in the sanctuary. The fencing for the dogs' exercise yards will soon be installed. We had a job fair in March and interviewed about 200 people. So far, we have hired six people, and they are being trained. We will be hiring more people in time. We have moved our Life Preserver dogs from the private kennels into the building. At this time, we can only have visitors by appointment with our Executive Director. We have not yet set a date for our official opening - we'll keep you posted.

July2011/SafeHavenbuildingentrance.jpg

Safe Haven entrance

With a proactive adoption policy, we expect to care for about 2,000 animals annually in our sanctuary. The animals who cannot be quickly adopted will receive long-term housing or will live out their natural lives at Safe Haven. "As a true No-Kill shelter, no cats or dogs will be put down unless they have untreatable and unmanageable medical conditions that cause pain which can not be controlled," says Anne Gryczon, who has been Safe Haven's Executive Director for 4 years. "The model for Safe Haven is Best Friends in Utah, which has been proving since the 1980s that the No-Kill philosophy works. Safe Haven is completely committed to the Best Friends approach."

We hope you will take a few moments to read our 2011 Annual Report, which can be downloaded below. We are very proud that we were able to save over 130 Delaware dogs from being put down since we started our Life Preserver dog program in January 2011. We are always looking for foster homes for our dogs: click for photos. We continue to spay/neuter community cats and feed over 600 cats in colonies around the county with our pet food pantry. We provide world-class medical care for the dogs and cats in our care, based on the same policies as Best Friends.

2011 Annual Report

Illustration of 2 adjacent cat rooms



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Safe Haven News

A Donation to Safe Haven of $25,000 in Memory of Marcy May. Click for our article

"Safe Haven Building Staff with Job Fair," by Christine Miller, Sussex Countian, March 7, 2012. Click to article.

"Animals in Sussex County get a new leash on life," Sussex Countian, Nov. 22, 2011. Click for article.

"Shelter dogs help students succeed,"Milford Beacon, Nov. 17, 2011.The article led to a WBOC news story. Click for the article and the WBOC video.

"Sussex County's Safe Haven Sanctuary looks to open facility later this year" Sussex Countian, Sept. 21,2011. Click for article.

Click here for June 2011 Cape Gazette Article on Safe Haven Dogs

Help abused and abandoned cats and dogs

Animal-Centered Design
Safe Haven's design is unique because it will minimize the stress of the cats and dogs living there, while keeping operational costs at a minimum. The cage-free indoor living spaces for 400 cats and dogs are heated, cooled, and full of natural light from windows that can be opened in good weather.

Compatible dogs will be paired up, and several cats will be in each cat room to prevent isolation. There will also be areas where cats and dogs can interact with volunteers and people interested in adopting pets.

More on our building

Maxie and Joey need a home

Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary's Mission

No-Kill Sanctuary that is a true safety net for Sussex County dogs and cats, modeled after Best Friends
Operate efficiently and effectively to make the best use of donations
Loving care to 400 cats and dogs at a time with well-trained staff and volunteers
Excellent in-house veterinary care that seeks to save animals
Proactive adoption process with good “matches”
Help people find ways to keep their pets if at all possible if in the best interests of the animals
Low and no-cost spay and neuter services for pets of people with limited income and for stray/barn cats
Work towards making Sussex County a No-Kill community and Delaware a No-Kill state

This is one of the videos on our youtube channel. Click to go to the Safe Haven youtube channel for our other videos.

Click photo to go to order an engraved brick

Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary of Sussex County
501(c)(3) non-profit organization

19022 Shingle Point Road, Georgetown, Delaware 19947

Mailing Address: PO Box 430, Nassau, DE 19969

302.856.6460



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