Little Victories Animal Rescue broke ground on its first permanent building at the group's farm in eastern Cabell County in a Nov. 14 ceremony.
Work on the new adoption center was scheduled to begin this week. The facility is being made possible by a $250,000 donation by philanthropist and Huntington native Donna Wellman.
The building, to be named the Donna B. Wellman Rescue and Adoption Center, will house puppies, small dogs and cats, and it will also include office space.
It is the first phase of what Little Victories founder and president Sue Brown envisions as a three-phase plan. "Our second phase will be to raise money to add a building for the larger dogs," Brown said. Eventually, a third phase would include an animal hospital.
The gathering was also a reunion of sorts. Owners of adopted Little Victories animals were invited to bring their pets to the event, and many did.
After the golden shovels were put away, volunteers brought out two dogs to do a ceremonial paw digging in a special plot of dirt.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, an artist's drawing of the center was unveiled, and tokens of appreciation presented to Wellman, who attended the event with her husband, Selby Wellman.
West Virginia native and Marshall University graduate Selby Wellman is the former senior vice president of Cisco Systems, a worldwide leader in networking and communications technology. He is currently on the board of Red Hat, a vendor of the Linux open source operating system and also runs a small software company.
The Wellmans also created the Wellman Family Foundation, which works to improve education in the state, including providing scholarships for about 40 students at Marshall.
Little Victories is a no-kill animal shelter and rescue group that serves the tri-state area and the Kanawha Valley. Currently, the nonprofit organization cares for about 90 dogs - most available for adoption. Some of these live on the farm at Ona in outdoor kennels. Many are in foster homes.
The shelter also cares for about 50 cats. All the cats have to be fostered out because of a lack of facilities at the farm.
Brown said Wellman's generous gift would save the lives of many dogs and cats. "It will be wonderful to have a place to take the animals inside," she said. "Particularly for those that require medical attention."
For more information about adopting, volunteering or donating to Little Victories, call 304-743-5802 or go to the Web site at littlevictories.org.