A monumental moment in the animal welfare industry has come to light as the Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA) breaks ground on its newest revolutionary endeavor, an Education and Behavior Center, with appearances and comments by Mayor Regina Romero, Supervisor Sharon Bronson, Judge Maria Felix, and UA Canine Cognition Institute Director, Evan MacLean on Monday, August 9th at 8:45 am.

This new center is the final of a three phase plan the Humane Society of Southern Arizona has taken on in order to see through its mission of ending pet homelessness in Southern Arizona. Beginning with a crucial move to its new, larger, more modern campus at 635 W. Roger Rd, this final phase will become the heart of that home in further strengthening the relationship HSSA has with its community as an accessible and reliable resource for them and their pets.

As the animal welfare industry embarks into a new era that extends far beyond an adoption-centric model, HSSA is at the forefront. Its new Education and Behavioral Center will provide pet-families in our community with the tools they need to solve behavioral problems and deepen the bond they have with their pets.

At the heart of the new center will be a 2,000 square foot, climate-controlled, training room, with capabilities of extending into an outdoor space as weather permits, that is designed to house community events and discussion, multi-faceted pet behavioral training, and youth humane education classes and camps. Additionally, HSSA’s Community Cat Program will be headquartered in another wing of this center, providing the opportunity for new programs to be birthed that will allow for more community cats to become eligible for adoption and find loving homes.

The space will likewise house two state-of-the-art behavior research rooms that will act as research hubs for the innovative and essential research being conducted with the University of Arizona’s College of Veterinary Medicine and their Canine Cognition Institute. A partnership that HSSA is passionately committed to upholding and supporting. To learn more about the type of research to be performed at the center, click here.

The Education and Behavior Center stands as a pillar on which animal welfare in Southern Arizona can grow, evolve, and improve. A symbol of the ground-breaking moves HSSA is making to fulfil the promises it has made to homeless, at-risk, and adopted pets here in our community, and the people who love them.