With over 2,400 pets coming through Circle of Friends last year and even more this year already, the Grand Forks Humane Society is anxiously looking forward to their new renovations and facility updates.

Circle of Friends will soon be anticipating a new cat room with family-friendly furniture. With the comfortably furnished room, they hope to provide a friendly environment for cat lovers to be able to spend extended, quality time with the cats and make them feel at home while they wait for their forever home. 

Another change that the facility is looking forward to is the expanding and repurposing of rooms. With an increased number of pets coming in and out of the facility each year, expansion and repurposing of rooms is a definite need.

In addition to the new cat room and room changes, Circle of Friends is introducing a surgery room to their facility.This change will help make the adoption process faster and more efficient. The humane society has not renovated its facility in the last 19 years and has been preparing for these new improvements for three years now. The anticipated finish date for these updates is December 2019.

With all of the changes occurring, Circle of Friends has a huge appreciation for all of their volunteers. 

“Our volunteers play a big role at our facility, and without them, we would not be able to have as many pets as we do at one time,” Laualee Tupa, the Circle of Friends director said. “Our volunteers don’t only make a difference in how the facility is run, but also a huge difference in the pet’s lives.” 

Circle of Friends has around 500 volunteers at the facility and about 100 of them consist of college students. 

“I have spent many of my afternoons and weekends at the Circle of Friends facility and to say I have enjoyed it would be an understatement,” Abbi Smith, a Junior UND student said. “The pets are so kind and love the attention and the staff there are extremely helpful, every time I leave the facility, I feel accomplished, like I really made a difference in their lives.”

Circle of Friends Humane Society is truly a second chance for pets.  They are devoted to protecting and caring for lost and unwanted animals, bringing animals into humane environments and implementing programs that increase awareness when it comes to the responsibilities of caring for animals. Circle of Friends greatly appreciates volunteers, adopting families and community donations. 

If you are at all interested in adopting an animal, Circle of Friends website has an updated page dedicated to currently available pets that are seeking a forever home. The website can be found at www.cofpets.com or if you are looking to donate to help the animals, online donation is an option as well. If you have any questions at all, director Laualee Tupa can be reached at 701-775-3732.