Pflugerville Animal Shelter The Pflugerville Animal Shelter will receive more dog kennels after the City Council approved $233,000 worth of improvements.[/caption]

On April 12, Pflugerville City Council unanimously approved $233,219 for an expansion of the Pflugerville Animal Shelter, located near Pecan St. and Immanuel Road.

The city will contract Ft. Worth-based Colston Construction Inc. to convert a 2,020 square foot storage shed to a holding area for up to 32 adoptable dogs, according to Assistant City Manager Trey Fletcher.

Currently, the shelter has 21 kennels for adoptable dogs which are often at capacity, said Lt. Laura Wilkes, who oversees the shelter for the Pflugerville Police Department.

“When we had more than 21 dogs we had to put them in foster or put them on the [section housing stray dogs],” Wilkes said. “This will [approximately] double our adoption space.”

Wilkes said the new kennels will be larger and give animals more room to move around during their stay at the shelter, which averages about three weeks.

The new holding area will include 24 kennels and 8 cages for adoptable dogs that could be re-utilized if a new shelter is built in the future, according to city documents.

In addition, the contractor will also provide some infrastructure improvements to the animal shelter, including parking lot pavement, Wilkes said.

“Right now it’s mostly gravel there, so there are a lot of aesthetic and safety [concerns] when it gets muddy,” she said.