The City of Elko has hired an architectural firm to begin site selection and design work on a new animal shelter, a major step forward for a facility that currently handles about 2,000 animals a year in a building with just 28 dog kennels.

City council members approved a $125,000 professional services agreement with Myers Anderson Architects, an Idaho-based firm, reports Elko Daily Free Press.

Architect Richard Creason said the firm’s work with the city will include research to make sure any new facility meets both current and future needs for housing animals and supporting shelter staff.

Roughly six different city-owned sites have been identified as possible locations for the new shelter, based on factors including available water and electricity access and overall feasibility.

The push for a new shelter follows a presentation earlier this year from Vivian Wright, president of the Local Animal Shelter Support Organization, or LASSO, who told the Elko City Council the current shelter is too small for a growing animal population.

LASSO hopes to raise roughly $5 million to $7 million toward the project, and Wright said the current timeline points to construction starting in about five years.

The Elko Animal Shelter, a no-kill facility funded by the city, takes in strays and surrendered animals from across Elko County, including Wells and Spring Creek.

LASSO has run the shelter’s on-site spay and neuter clinic since it opened, and the nonprofit has sterilized more than 8,500 shelter animals to date.

The shelter’s limited space was tested earlier this year when a hoarding case in the Elko area led to the rescue of 38 animals, including 28 collies.

A coalition of rescue groups placed the collies in homes as far away as California, Arizona, Oregon, and Canada, while the shelter itself found placements for 10 smaller dogs, some of which went to Las Vegas.

Dog owners in Elko County can support the shelter expansion effort through LASSO, which accepts donations, kennel sponsorships, and in-kind gifts of food, toys, and bedding at lassoelko.org.