About Foothills Animal Shelter
Foothills Animal Shelter is an open-admissions facility, which means we never turn away an animal. We care for more than 9,200 orphaned cats, kittens, dogs, puppies and critters every year with a compassionate team of staff and volunteers. (Unfortunately, we can not accept wild animals; they should be taken to organizations who specialize in their care.) We are a true community resource and offer a variety of services including pet adoption, Jefferson County pet licensing, affordable spaying and neutering, vaccinations, microchipping and lost and found pets. We are committed to our important mission and the life-saving work that we do every day of the year.
Mission
Foothills Animal Shelter is dedicated to providing the best care possible for every animal that enters our doors.
Community, Adopt, Reunite and Educate (C.A.R.E.) are the four key principles of our organization.
Areas Served
We work closely with animal welfare officers across Jefferson County to keep our neighborhoods safe and to educate the community. Arvada, Edgewater, Golden, Lakewood, Westminster, Wheat Ridge and unincorporated Jefferson County are all communities served by the Shelter.
History
Originally founded in 1976 by an intergovernmental agreement the Jefferson Animal Shelter served as the impound facility for unincorporated Jefferson County and the cities of Arvada, Lakewood and Wheat Ridge. In 1994, after years of success, the Jefferson Animal Shelter reevaluated its mission and goals to accommodate growing demands on the facility and changes in the external environment. As part of the reevaluation, the shelter changed its name to Table Mountain Animal Center. With the new name came expanded services, more efficient operations and greater public outreach, including the addition of the City of Golden as a member agency.
On June 30, 2009, ground was broken on the site of a long-awaited brand new facility, Foothills Animal Shelter. In early August of 2010, Table Mountain Animal Center became Foothills Animal Shelter and moved to its new beautiful building at 580 McIntyre at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.
At 33,000 square feet, the current facility is nearly three times the size of the old building and allows the Shelter to significantly improve the space in which the animals are housed and the services to the community. A new medical suite allows the Shelter to provide more on-site, cost-effective care and has increased the number of spays and neuters.
Board of Directors
Jefferson County and each city served by Foothills Animal Shelter are represented by one leader who sits on our Board of Directors.
Arvada
Vice President
Lorie Gillis, Deputy City Manager – City of Arvada
Golden
President
Jeff Hansen, Finance Director – City of Golden
Jefferson County
Treasurer
Holly Björklund, Director of Finance & IT – Jefferson County
Lakewood
Secretary
John Pickard, Commander – Lakewood Police Department
Westminster
Kim Barron, Commander – Westminster Police Department
Wheat Ridge
Carly Lorentz, Assistant to the City Manager – City of Wheat Ridge
Animal Control Partners
Animal Control Officers investigate animal abuse and provide services to keep our community safe. We consider these officers to be our partners in the field. They have access to our facility 24 hours a day so that they can keep lost pets safe while owners are located.
Arvada Animal Management 720.898.6850
Edgewater Police Department 303.278.2000
Golden Code Enforcement 303.384.8045
Jefferson County Animal Control 303.271.5070
Lakewood Animal Control 303.987.7173
Westminster Animal Control 303.658.4326
Wheat Ridge Animal Control 303.235.2926
Foothills Animal Shelter Statistics
Foothills Animal Shelter participates in the Metro Denver Animal Welfare Alliance (MDAWA), a coalition of 25 public and private shelters, rescue groups and other animal service providers. Our mission is to foster the collaborative efforts of our members to promote humane care for companion animals in our community.
Through 2015, Foothills Animal Shelter collected and reported shelter statistics, including live release rate, in accordance with the Asilomar Accords. The guiding principles of the Asilomar Accords included statistical transparency and a uniform method for collecting and reporting shelter data. Recognizing that industry standards are changing, an improved method of collecting data has evolved out of the Accords matrix. Foothills Animal Shelter will now share the statistics in a data matrix that is required by the Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act (PACFA) for Colorado-licensed shelters and rescues. In addition, Foothills Animal Shelter is reporting data to the Shelter Animals Count National Database (www.shelteranimalscount.org) which provides shelter data on dogs and cats at the county level in the U.S. The purpose of Shelter Animals Count is to enable data-driven decisions to promote saving the lives of companion animals and preventing homelessness.
2016 Foothills Animal Shelter Statistics
2015 Foothills Animal Shelter Statistics
2014 Foothills Animal Shelter Statistics
2013 Foothills Animal Shelter Statistics
2012 Foothills Animal Shelter Statistics
2011 Foothills Animal Shelter Statistics
2010 Table Mountain Animal Center/Foothills Animal Shelter Statistics