EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WLAX.WEUX) – Bob’s House for Dogs has been making tails wag since 2010. And in that time, they’ve rescued more than 700 senior and special needs dogs. There are currently 18 dogs staying there but staff say they fear reaching capacity. “We have to turn certain dogs down for space needs. And that’s a sad thing and we don’t like to do it. we want to have the space for isolation for certain dogs, dogs that are just coming out of surgery, dogs that have extreme anxiety issues and just need the time. Right now. Our existing building just doesn’t provide that.”

Bob’s House for Dogs is currently running their “Unleash A Legacy” campaign fundraising for a new building. That building will provide more space for the dogs and higher-quality storage. But it will also give them the opportunity to help other animals in need. Co-founder, Travis Quella, says, “One of the things we heard from many people over the years was are you going to do the same thing for cats? Can you do the same thing for cats? And quite frankly, we weren’t sure. to be able to take in more dogs and care for them better, we absolutely need the building, but we absolutely have to have it for the cats. the need is overwhelming. And at the end of the day, we’re not just you know, we don’t want to just be here for the dogs. Cats are as much a companion to people as dogs are, and it’s the right thing to do.”

The Quella Family, who founded Bob’s House, asked for the help of other shelters to find out what is needed for this program. Travis explains, “We put a committee together in-house with our board of directors, did a lot of study and talk to a lot of people that were doing something similar in other locations, and we’ve got a pretty good feel for what it would take to be effective to do basically with cats.”

The Quellas say they’ve provided a happy life for a number of dogs and hope to do the same for cats. Travis says, “We provide the vet care that oftentimes the shelters can’t provide for budget reasons. if we, through medications and vet care, can give that dog a quality of life, we write the check. and we’re going do the same thing for the for the cats.”