The members of the Natchez-Adams County Humane Society have taken a leap of faith in our community by moving forward with the much-needed construction of a new animal shelter here.

The metal building, which will be assembled on a site not far from the existing shelter on Liberty Road, is expected to arrive in Natchez on Monday at about 2:30 p.m. It is being manufactured in Garden City, Ala., by Morton Buildings and will be completed onsite. The new shelter is expected to be ready for occupancy by March or April 2015.

The cost of the new facility will be about $1.38 million. The Humane Society has raised about $850,000 to go toward the building, which includes a recent gift of $350,000 from the estate of Brenda Voght Harrison.

That means the organization dedicated to making the lives of unwanted pets a little more sufferable, still needs to raise about $500,000.

David Paradise, Humane Society treasurer, said, “We’re going to have a heck of a lot of fundraising going on.”

That hard-working group of staff and volunteers has used creativity and ingenuity to better the lives of countless pets in recent years.

Thanks to the Humane Society’s transport program, more than 800 puppies surrendered to the Natchez shelter, which would have otherwise been euthanized, are in loving homes in Florida, Illinois or Massachusetts.

When just a few years ago, 80 percent of the dogs and puppies brought to the shelter were euthanized, today about 80 percent of the animals taken in at the shelter are placed in homes.

The new facility will replace a woefully inadequate one. The Humane Society receives minimal funding from the City of Natchez and Adams County, particular when one considers it operates as an open admission shelter, meaning it does not turn down any animal brought to it unless all kennels are full.

Please consider helping unwanted animals — and those who care for them — by making a donation to the Natchez-Adams County Humane Society this holiday season.