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The Hacienda: A Pet Sanctuary
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| Allow us to proudly share our architectural drawings
and structural renderings; they will inspire you to visualize how resources
will create a dream facility. The Hacienda is planned to be a central facility
to adopt out pets that are adoptable, serve as a sanctuary for those who
are not adoptable, and, finally, and importantly, provide maintenance income
from the Hacienda's vacation board & care suites. Some of the original design elements given to the architect: The property minimally requires a residential area for two separate caretakers. The other elements include: |
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| 1. | Separate rooms each containing sleeping and play areas for a certain number of cats (perhaps 6 to 8 per room?) Each must have areas for baskets for sleeping on several levels. Dogs need separate quarters. |
| 2. | These rooms must be able to be viewed at any time from central areas. |
| 3. | The sanctuary building requires a fully enclosed outdoor area with open/close access to each indoor sleeping area; nicely landscaped area (no or low maintenance) in enclosed area with place for donors to sit, enjoy coffee while observing pets playing; viewing area from outside enclosure; climbing and high resting areas; cement footings to prevent coyotes digging in under edges. |
| 4. | Isolation/hospital room for individual sick pets with area for refrigeration/storage of medicines, and examination table with scale, sink for hand washing, etc. Many diseases are air-born, and mites can float, so the air filtration must be up to extraordinarily high standards in this room. |
| 5. | Sanitation for litter boxes is critical and must be addressed. |
| 6. | Floors, chairs, furniture, bedding must be kept free of pet hair and easily sanitized. |
| 7. | Fresh, highly oxygenated water must be available for all animals at all times and automatically refilled if possible to reduce volunteer time. |
| 8. | Group Isolation Room for pets with permanent issues such as feline leukemia. |
| 9. | Double door areas for pets who are escape artists. (Second door wont open until first door is closed) Possibly pocket doors in some areas to save space, but the technology causes them to fail frequently. |
| 10. | Kitchen: prepare animal food and water, separate refrigerator & preparation area for human foods. |
| 11. | Sanitation issues must be paramount. Fresh air issues are critical. |
| 12. | Receptionist area to check in new arrivals. |
| 13. | Waiting room for clients. Should have a looped TV screen to show the pets available to be adopted, a list of needs of the sanctuary (food, fax machine, etc) a place for educational materials, newsletter, community bulletin board, etc. |
| 14. | Cameras in the rooms to go to Internet for people to watch kitty and canine activity. |
| 15. | Overhead speaker system for music or announcements, controllable by each room individually. |
| 16. | Socialization area to test new arrivals or play with potentially adoptable cats. |
| 17. | Area for volunteers to congregate, eat, sit, talk, post newsletters, leave messages, use internet. |
| 18. | Multi-use boardroom for minimum 20: volunteer training, donor and benefactor meetings, etc. |
| 19. | Attractive parking for staff, volunteers, benefactors, clients. Must have easy ingress & egress. |
| 20. | First impressions at arrival: Attractive, professional and serene exterior. No or low maintenance, lush appearance. Statuary. Water element. Burglar-proof. Well lighted at night. |
| 21. | The house must be able to be fully insulated against cold weather include fans for warm weather. South-facing windows must prevent over heating the rooms during summer, but perfect for winter warmth. |
| 22. | Accessible office space, desk, computer, filing cabinets for keeping records on each animal. |
| 23. | Separate laundry facilities for human residents and feline residents are essential. |
| 24. | Include, as a part of the sanctuary, a "Vacation Dog & Cat Boarding" model as an income generating portion of the facility. |
| Consider the options of a shared or separate entrance for clients boarding their pets for the vacation, versus clients bringing the cats/dogs/pets for permanent sanctuary or for possible future adoption. | |
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Area for washing & bleaching of animal blankets, towels, etc. |