ASPCA plans $9 million rehab center in Weaverville

WEAVERVILLE – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is bringing a 35,000-square-foot animal behavior rehabilitation center to Buncombe County.

The $9 million facility, to be located at an old cement plant at 50 Murphy Hill Road in Weaverville, will use state-of-the-art techniques and offer services not found elsewhere in the world, said Matthew Bershadker, president and chief executive officer of the New York-based nonprofit.

The center will use innovative, scientifically-based training and behavior practices to rehabilitate abused dogs.

The ASPCA aims to open the facility in two years, employing 30-35 people. The agency is currently looking for an architect and contractor.

In mid-December, the ASPCA, the first humane society established in North America and one of the largest in the world, purchased just under 13 acres north of Asheville for the facility.

The nonprofit looked at venues along the East Coast, including Raleigh, before settling on the Asheville metropolitan area.

Area animal welfare nonprofits and business lobby groups, especially the Humane Alliance, lured the ASPCA to choose Buncombe County, Bershadker said. "Asheville shares the vales of the ASPCA," he said. "We felt very much at home there."

"It's a progressive community with progressive values that respect animals. We were thrilled to be able to find that property."

ASPCA has a $202 million operating budget and nearly 850 employees. It supports shelters, rescue and advocacy groups across the U.S.

Founded in 1866, the ASPCA operates on the belief that animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment at the hands of humans, and must be protected under the law.

Some of the 1.3 million dogs euthanized in shelters across the country each year are put down because they suffer from behavior conditions that are the result of cruelty, abuse and neglect, Bershadker said. These animals come to shelters from places like puppy mills, hoarders and dog fighters where they were never socialized for human interaction.

The ASPCA started informally testing new behavior modification practices with abused dogs years ago at temporary facilities it had set up in warehouses and fairgrounds to care for animals. Initially, dogs would score poorly on behavior screening, but staff and volunteers were able to improve their quality of life to prepare them for adoption, recalled Bershadker.

"Overwhelmingly, we saw you can turn an incredibly fearful, unsocialized dog into a loving pet," he said. "They are called companion animals for a reason. Dogs and cats do best when they are living with people."

In spring 2013 the ASPCA formally expanded its research at the St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, New Jersey. The agency is currently collecting data at the test clinic and plans to publish a peer reviewed study.

Rehabilitation is done by desensitizing animals from their prior, horrific everyday experiences and exposing them to ordinary everyday activities at their own pace, Bershadker said.

Behaviorists do simple things like putting a collar on a dog for a few seconds and then removing it. They also expose animals to a television or read to them so they can get use to hearing a human voice.

Much like they do at the Madison, New Jersey clinic, animals will stay at the proposed Weaverville center for 8 to 12 weeks with no pressure to be adopted, Bershadker added.

This type of animal rehabilitation is the next frontier in ending the "senseless, needless euthanasia" of dogs across the country, he said.

Organizations like the Humane Alliance have already made a huge dent in animal overpopulation with spay and neuter initiatives, said Bershadker. Now, the ASPCA is looking at helping animals with behavior conditions that slow down the process of adoption.

"If we can have this kind of success in a warehouse, imagine what we could do in a facility dedicated for this purpose," said Bershadker.

Although initially the focus will be getting the operations running, Bershadker would eventually like to see the center become a training facility for shelters and rescue groups around the world. "It's not only about the few hundred dogs that will be able to run throughout the facility each year, but it's about what we learn and how we share that," he said.

The Weaverville center will likely operate on a $2.3 million annual budget.

Local animal welfare municipalities and nonprofit groups are often underfunded, Bershadker said. The ASPCA is a national, well resourced institution that can lead this new movement in Asheville, he said.

"The animals that have been abused and neglected and really failed by us, by humanity, I think are worthy of more resources," said Bershadker, adding that efficiencies will be gained over time.

For now, he said, "We need to look beyond the cost per animal."

The ASPCA's decision to locate in Buncombe County will have a huge impact, reducing animal suffering across the nation, said Quita Mazzina, executive director of Asheville's Humane Alliance. "The ASPCA's decision to build the rehab center here speaks volumes about the people who reside in our community," she said.

Dana Stonestreet, chief executive officer of HomeTrust Bank in Asheville, couldn't agree more.

The ASPCA coming to town mirrors the burgeoning craft beer industry, he said, comparing the work of Highland Brewery founder Oscar Wong to that of Mazzina.

Just like Wong paved the way for companies like Sierra Nevada and New Belgium, the Humane Alliance has pioneered the most unique spay neuter clinic in the county, said Stonestreet, who is the former president of the Asheville Chamber of Commerce.

Its work has led the way for the ASPCA to come to Buncombe County, he said.

"These are very unique aspects that come out of the eclectic culture of Asheville," said Stonestreet, adding that the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Coalition have done significant work to understand the community and utilize its strengths.

"It's doggone exciting to see the traction Asheville is getting to be able to grow in areas that are uniquely part of the culture here," he said. "It's just awesome. I know there will be more to come."