270 E. BROADWAY, JACKSON, WYOMING
Thanks to generous donors, the AAC has seven kennels, three spacious turfed yards, multiple rooms dedicated to free-roaming cats, and a cat quarantine room. To ensure a calm and safe environment for adoptable animals, the AAC is open by appointment only. After filling out an adoption application, call the AAC at 307.739.1881 to schedule a meet & greet.
DOG TOWN
All adoptable dogs stay in foster homes or are doing a trial period with their potential adopters. Fostering helps the dogs decompress from the stressful shelter environment and allows the AAC to expand its capacity, welcoming in more homeless pets. By spending time in a home environment, the dogs are better adjusted to family life, and it allows the AAC to provide potential adopters with important information about each dog’s personality; their likes/dislikes, their optimal living environment, as well as any potential issues or quirks that need to be addressed. The ‘foster first, adopt second’ style has proven successful and the Animal Adoption is known for having an exceptionally low return rate. The AAC is open by appointment only because the foster families often only bring the dogs in for their pre-arranged Meet & Greets. Dog Meet & Greets happen in the spacious turfed yards where dogs love to play!
KITTY CITY
Instead of waiting for their forever home in crates, the cats of Kitty City have windows to look out of, birds to watch, friends to play with, and multiple volunteer visits a day. The front room is warm and full of toys, cat scratchers and comfy beds. The back room is full of cat trees, hidey holes and cat enrichment activities plus windows with views of the Dog Town yards, bird feeders and Snow King Mountain. Most cat Meet & Greets happen in Kitty City so potential adopters can see how the cats interact with other animals and to experience each cat’s unique personality in a friendly environment. Because not all cats love to socialize with other cats or cannot free-feed, the upstairs of the AAC building is dedicated to cats who desire a quieter lifestyle or have a special diet or medical treatment. At any given time, the AAC’s Executive Director shares her office space with 1 to 5 cats. In 2020, the AAC added a full time Cat Care Specialist to the team. The Cat Care Specialist takes care of the adoptable cats, establishing strong relationships with each one to learn their personality and prioritize any training necessary. Once a cat is adopted, the Cat Care Specialist is available to assist in integrating the cat into their new home with training tips and lifestyle suggestions.
PUPPY PALACE
The shelter environment is not an ideal place for a puppy to grow up because the first eight weeks of a puppy’s life is critical for nurturing, socialization, and training. In an ideal world, no more puppies are born without thoughtful and intentional breeding. But if a mom has already given birth, the best we can do is provide her a calm quiet place to raise her puppies until everyone is spayed/neutered and ready to be adopted. During their Puppy Palace stay, Aska and her staff of qualified animal behavior specialists spend hours each day training the puppies with safe exposure to things like sounds, textures, farm animals and a wide variety of volunteers. During the first few months of the collaboration between the AAC and Aska’s Animals, the growing need for a safe place for mama dogs and infant puppies in Wyoming and Idaho became more evident and Aska’s Animals was able to fundraise for two more Puppy Palaces. With three Puppy Palaces in place, Aska’s Animals has the capacity to house over 100 puppies annually. This initiative allows the AAC to say ‘yes’ to more homeless animals and keep vulnerable animals out of the regional shelters.The Teton Valley Animal Care Facility Pilot Project will allow the AAC to expand with reasonable and sustainable growth while becoming inclusive of another wonderful community and pursuing our life-saving mission.
QUARANTINE ROOM
Complete with six kennels, the Quarantine Room comfortably holds up to twelve cats during their two-week quarantine period upon arrival at the AAC. This two-week quarantine ensures the cats entering the AAC program are healthy and ready for adoption.
BIG BLUE
Complete with 4WD and nineteen temperature-controlled kennels with their own drain, the van safely transports dogs and cats from across the state of Wyoming to the AAC facility in Jackson Hole. This van has increased the AAC’s ability to save the lives of homeless animals at risk of euthanasia and those going unnoticed in overcrowded shelters. Since 2020, the van has made countless trips to the Wind River Reservation to facilitate the Spay/Neuter Wyoming Program and to our partnering shelters to bring hundreds of animals to safety. In collaboration with our partners in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and Texas, including Aska’s Animals, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and Dog is My CoPilot, the van safely transports animals over Teton Pass regularly making for efficient and less-stressful travel for homeless animals in the vulnerable space between shelter and permanent rescue.