INGHAM COUNTY - The Ingham County Animal Shelter is getting a major revamp.

In 2016 Ingham County voters passed a 10-year tax increase to fund a new 6.8 million dollar animal shelter.

The Director of Ingham County Animal Control, John Dinon, said that he knows that the new shelter will benefit the community.

"Well, the community obviously cares deeply about animals and about animal shelters and Ingham Count Animal Control," Dinon said. "As I said, the millage passed by a 2-1 margin. So people care about it."

Last weekend during a press conference, Dinon gave a presentation on progress of the new shelter and how the community can help moving forward.

The millage will help build a new facility, reduce the reliance on county general funds and icrease services, but the funds just aren’t enough for the shelter to reach its full potential.

“This project was always intended to be a private, public partnership," Dinon said. "So in addition to the millage funds that are going to help pay for the new shelter, we are embarking on a capital campaign to help raise funds for the new shelter.”

The Ingham County Animal Shelter Fund has officially kicked off their public community fundraiser to help raise an extra $300,000 for other necessities that aren’t included in the millage.

“That $300,000 dollars is specifically for vetinary equipment, x-ray equipment, surgical table, surgical lights, anesthesia equipment," Dinon said. "And if we raise a little but more we have some more visitor and animal amenities we want to pay for with that.”

As of last Saturday, The Igham County Animal Shelter Fund has raised over $125,000 of their $300,000 goal.

Members of the organization are very excited to give beloved local animals a better quality of life with the new facility.

Treasurer of the Ingham County Animal Shelter Fund, Connie Jones, couldn't help but choke up as she spoke about the new amenities.

"The new dog runs and the cat condos are going to be so much better," Jones said. "There'll be more space. Some of the dog runs will be outdoor, indoor so they can go and get fresh air while they’re still in their run, which will also help the staff members...then they can clean one section while the dog is in the other. The increase of standards and animal care handling is going to be amazing.”

Construction of the new shelter is set to begin this spring and will be up and running by this time next year.

The new facility will be located on the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office Campus near the 55th District Court and Ingham County Drain Commission Office.