New Leadership, Shorter Stays, and Big Dreams at the Cattaraugus County SPCA
SPCA in Cattaraugus County is writing a new story. With new leadership, they are turning the page on a challenging history. Kellie, the executive director, who began work at the shelter in 2024, thought her long career in animal sheltering was over when she left her previous position in animal welfare. She was tired and maybe a little burned out, but she obviously had more to give.
When an SPCACC board member shared their struggle, Kellie decided she had one more shelter in her. Clearly, she knows how to run a shelter.
We visited the shelter in April of 2026. The changes that have come under her direction are evident not just in the bright renovated lobby, the increase in adoptions, the shorter average length of stay, but also, as Joy, a dog staff employee who has worked at the shelter for four years, put it, “There’s a better atmosphere, and we’re working more closely with the public.”
Joy is an essential and passionate employee who absolutely loves her job. As she gave us the tour, her face lit up as she talked about her work, the dogs (and cats), and the shelter’s future.
Repairing the building and the relationships
Kellie admits there is much work to be done. They need to repair relationships with partners and the public. That means getting out of the building and into the community.
The 40-year-old building, located outside the historical town of Olean, is beyond repair, and no matter how hard they work to improve it, it will never meet New York state codes.
A capital campaign has begun with a goal of raising $6 million for a new shelter building over 2 years. That’s a lofty goal, but with $700,000 already raised and this positive, determined staff (and I’m going to assume the board), it seems doable to me.
“There is a lot we can work on meanwhile,” says Kellie. They have instituted many changes, including vaccinating on intake, staff training, developing new SOPs, and implementing the new TVNR program to address community cats.
While they had yet to put in place a formal volunteer system, they already have 50 regular volunteers. All of the food at the shelter is donated. Clearly, this community cares about its shelter.
Helping more dogs
As a nonprofit, the shelter handles about 450 animals a year. They pull some dogs after they have served their stray hold with the county dog officer and the dog officers from many other surrounding municipalities. Each municipality handles its ‘animal control’ differently, but it sounds very much like a traditional dog-pound system, dependent on this shelter and other rescues to save unclaimed dogs. SPCACC functions as a regional shelter, supporting animals in need beyond its county lines.
Kellie and Mike, the operations manager, are full-time, and there are 8 part-time employees. Together, they have worked to bring down the length of stay and find homes for dogs. In 2024, the shelter adopted out 102 dogs. In 2025, they adopted out 255. And in just three months of 2026, they have already adopted out 107. In 2024, the average length of stay was 92 days; in 2025, it was 45 days; and at the time of our visit in 2026, it was 27 days.
The shelter doesn’t have any rescue partners for dogs (but does transfer out cats), so those are impressive stats. Securing reliable rescue partners would mean they could help more dogs.
Working with what you’ve got
They are a managed-admission shelter, so the shorter the length of stay, the more animals they can bring in each year and the more help they can offer the municipalities around them.
At first glance, the shelter appeared vast, but half of its kennels were unusable due to crumbling concrete walls, rusted, broken fencing, and inoperable gates. While they have cobbled together as many as they can, “each kennel is its own puzzle,” says Kellie.
Inside, the building is a maze of rooms used for intake, isolation, cat housing (the Kitty Kingdom is pretty nice!), medical care, laundry, and food prep. They have the equipment to operate a spay/neuter clinic, but cannot find a vet, so it sits idle. Instead, they drive hours for spay/neuter services.
The shelter sits on a beautiful piece of property with a large pond and a trail around it that volunteers use to walk dogs. They have multiple large play yards, and dogs get out daily for exercise and, for some, for play groups. The staff works hard to provide creative enrichment activities for the dogs. We loved their popsicle idea!
A brighter future ahead
Despite the challenges, Joy is right – there is a positive atmosphere here, and it is only a matter of time before this shelter becomes all it is meant to be: A place where animals heal and find homes, the community engages in the work of making that happen, and it becomes a treasured resource for Cattaraugus County and beyond.
If you’d like to support the SPCA of Cattaraugus County, consider shopping their Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/9K1CNXOOLL7T
And learn more about them on their website and at the SPCA in Cattaraugus County.