Under perfect azure skies, Habersham County took a big pawprint forward on Thursday morning, April 17, as county officials broke ground for the long-awaited county animal shelter in Cornelia. The new facility will double the current shelter’s cramped space for dogs, cats, and other domestic animals.
A hefty mixed-breed adult dog named Harvey, tail whipping the wind, is now, at five years old, the shelter’s longest-term canine resident. He has lived at the shelter for two years. Harvey was among the 40 or so happy officials, volunteers, county staff, animal lovers, dogs, cats, and birds at the groundbreaking off Old Athens Highway near South Habersham Middle School.
Habersham County Animal Care and Control Director (HCACC) Madi Nix, a pink helmet perched atop her head, was visibly emotional, and had just two words when asked how she felt as the project, which had been debated for more than four years by the county, is finally becoming reality. “It’s surreal,” she said.
A few minutes later, Nix, along with the commissioners and other project officials, each grabbed one of the dozen shovels from the dirt and shoveled a few scoops of rich soil skyward while the crowd broke into applause.
‘Better for everyone’
Nix said that in addition to adding to the overall space for the county’s many stray, lost, and unwanted dogs and cats, the new space will also allow shelter staff to separate and isolate sick or dangerous animals from the general animal population. “It’s going to be better for everyone,” Nix said. “It will be safer for staff, the volunteers, and of course, for the animals…We needed this so badly.”
The groundbreaking came after some citizen groups at county commission meetings and online repeatedly and strenuously objected to the $10 million price tag for the shelter, though that figure also is expected to cover infrastructure for a planned recreation center near the new shelter property. The shelter itself is expected to cost about $5.7 million by the time it is completed in the spring of 2026. The cost is being funded by SPLOST—Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax—funds generated from a countywide sales tax, according to Commission Vice Chairman Bruce Harkness.
At some 2024 Commission meetings, Nix spoke, backed by strong volunteers and other supporters, who described harsh and cruel conditions in the existing, undersized facility in Clarkesville; they described having to house too many dogs and cats in a damaged, leaky, and crowded space never intended for so many animals. The Cornelia shelter will have some 45 kennels for dogs and 80 for cats, said Jerry Baggett, capital projects manager for the county.
Building for the future
Four of the five county commissioners attended, except for Commissioner Jimmy Tench, who was reportedly not well.
Said Dustin Mealor, the only one of the current commissioners who was serving when shelter discussions first got underway: “I am confident that we are building a facility for the county that could last for many years to come; that’s what’s important for us to do.” He also credited former Commissioner Bruce Palmer, who attended, for his instrumental role in moving the project forward.
Harkness acted as master of ceremonies and noted that “most of these people are volunteers, and we have such great people working for the county; we’re blessed to have them.”
Baggett chatted with his outside team on the shelter project, led by Kip Stokes, chief operating officer of contractor Croft & Associates of Lawrenceville. Said Stokes: “This has been a long time in coming; we are happy to be part of taking the progress along.” He said he had attended several of the commission meetings about the shelter. Sunbelt Builders of Covington, Georgia is a second partner with the county on the project.
Hoping Harvey, and the others, find forever homes
Huddled around the shelter’s van, volunteers Laura Cantor, Donna Yarbrough, and Brittany Brown each hugged a weeks-old Pitbull-mix puppy from the same litter of nine, who were all dropped off at the shelter soon after they were born. They were the offspring of a dog whose owner promised to have her neutered but never showed up at the shelter to do so.
Brown said they could not decide whether to name the pups after the planets or ice cream flavors, so they are temporarily nameless—and ownerless.
When Nix took to the microphone and thanked her supporters, she did not leave out Harvey, who watched her eagerly and is her part-time pet (she takes him home on weekends). “Harvey still needs a home,” Nix said. “We hope we won’t still have him when we move to the new place.”
