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Opening completes plans for a full-service facility in each county. The Brandywine Valley SPCA (BVSPCA) today held a Grand Opening celebration to mark the first day opened for its new location in Dover to serve Kent County. The new facility includes an adoption center, stray dog holding, a low-cost veterinary clinic, and opportunities for families to get involved through volunteering, fostering and humane education. The Dover Campus completes the BVSPCA’s strategic plan to open a full service facility in each county. “We’re proud to have achieved this milestone for the pets and pet families of Delaware,” said Adam Lamb, BVSPCA CEO. “We can now provide comprehensive, high quality, consistent resources across the state, and Kent County will finally have access to many services currently lacking in this area.” The Dover Campus addresses several unmet needs in the Kent County community. They include low-cost veterinary services; intake intervention programs, such as a pet food pantry and behavior counseling for owned pets; and humane education initiatives, such birthday parties and service projects that help the animals. The facility also houses stray dogs in their hold period as part of the BVSPCA contract with the Delaware Office of Animal Welfare (OAW) to provide state-wide animal services. The Dover Campus is located at 1757 Horsepond Road. Previously an animal shelter that sat unused for many years, the BVSPCA renovated and upgraded the site to include the latest in progressive animal sheltering and modern veterinary technology. The shelter houses upwards of 65 animals at any given time and includes features reflective of the BVSPCA’s progressive practices. Dogs enjoy play yards and daily playgroups, as well as indoor/outdoor kennels with details like sound-proofing in the ceilings and glass doors to optimize health and reduce stress. Cats live in a free-roaming room for less stress and an engaging adopter experience. The Animal Health Center provides high quality, low-cost veterinary care for family pets. Services include preventive care, sick visits and spay/neuter surgeries. The clinic also offers spay/neuter for community cats. The Dover Campus is the fifth BVSPCA location. It joins the New Castle Campus, the Georgetown Campus, the West Chester Campus (in Pennsylvania), and the Animal Rescue Center in Georgetown. The Delaware facilities opened in under four years with $4,600,000 in private donations. The BVSPCA invested $1,200,000 of that to complete the Dover Campus, including a generous lead gift from the Petco Foundation. The Dover Campus Grand Opening celebration and ribbon cutting was attended by several hundred people. Speakers included Governor John Carney; the Honorable Jennifer Ranji, Family Court Judge; Senator Nicole Poore; Senator Trey Paradee; and Adam Lamb, BVSPCA CEO. In addition to discussing the progress made by the BVSPCA for Kent County and across the state, speakers unveiled the BVSPCA Delaware Advisory Board. The BVSPCA Delaware Advisory Board brings together leaders from across the state in support of the animals and the mission of the BVSPCA. “We’re honored to have such high caliber leaders who are also animal advocates to be helping us,” Lamb continued. “Advisory Board members provide critical insight into needs and opportunities in the community while helping us access needed resources and collaborations.” (Member names are listed following this release.) The Grand Opening celebration marked the first day of business for the Dover Campus. The adoption center is open Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm, and Tuesday through Friday from 12pm to 5pm. The Animal Health Center will start seeing family pets on March 30th. April. Details on campus services can be found at bvspca.org. About the Brandywine Valley SPCA Founded in 1929, the Brandywine Valley SPCA is the first open admission no-kill shelter in Pennsylvania and Delaware. In 2019, the BVSPCA cared for more than 13,000 stray, owner-surrendered, wayward owned, and abused and neglected animals while achieving a 96% live release rate. The BVSPCA provides animal protective services for Chester County and much of Delaware County in Pennsylvania, and it holds a five-year contract with the Delaware Office of Animal Welfare to provide state-wide animal services for dogs. Animals are placed through four adoption centers: Dover Campus, Georgetown Campus, New Castle Campus, and West Chester Campus. In addition, the BVSPCA provides families with safety net and low-cost veterinary services at its four clinic locations: the Malvern Animal Health Center, the New Castle Animal Health Center, and the Georgetown Animal Health Center. The BVSPCA also operates the Animal Rescue Center (ARC), a facility dedicated to helping animals with additional needs prior to being ready for adoption, such as cruelty cases, disaster victims, and infants. bvspca.org.