East Ridge breaks ground on new animal shelter

EAST RIDGE, Tenn. (WDEF) – A new animal shelter is soon coming to East Ridge.

The city held groundbreaking at their new shelter near Ringgold and McBrien Roads.

The shelter, which was approved by the city council for a little three million dollars, will replace the existing shelter on Yale Avenue.

City officials and advocates that the shelter was too small and outdated, leading the shelter to not be able to accept all the stray animals presented to them.

Jennifer Massengale, the Animal Control Supervisor for East Ridge, said, “Currently we only have 18 permanent dog kennels, and I have 24 dogs in those kennels at this moment. With the new shelter we are going to up to 30 kennels, and make everyone’s life so much easier, especially for our four-legged friends.”

The project is expected to take about 180 days to complete, with an opening date sometime in Summer 2024.