The barking of dogs never sounded so good to the volunteers and supporters at Sunday’s grand reopening of PAWS Tinley Park.
The shelter had been shuttered since a Jan. 17 fire forced employees and volunteers out of the building, along with 100 dogs and cats.
None were killed or badly hurt in the fire, but some animals suffered smoke inhalation and all were taken to Midwest Animal Hospital in Orland Park.
There was a sense of relief among the crowd at Sunday’s celebration. The animals were back in a bright, clean building after extensive repairs and renovations that cost tens of thousands of dollars. What insurance didn’t cover, generous donors did, shelter officials said.
“I came back and heard dogs barking,” said Mark Favre, a PAWS Tinley Park board member and one of the many volunteers who helped with the work. “That was the best sound I’ve heard in three months.”
The ribbon cutting was a way to welcome people and animals alike back to the facility, and a chance to again thank all those who helped out during some trying months.
“I’m so glad you guys are here, so you can see dreams do come true,” Terri Buckley, PAWS president, told the crowd. “The night of the fire, we had cars pulling up in our parking lot dropping off towels and blankets. It just escalated from there.”
Bradley Rahm, another board member and longtime volunteer along with his wife, son and daughter, said the dogs were removed from the shelter right away after the fire and transported curbside in crates, but the cat evacuation took a little longer and they suffered more smoke inhalation.
“Everybody was outside in less than 40 minutes,” Rahm said. “When the call came out, they called Midwest Animal Hospital and they sent every one of their staff members in their personal vehicles.”
The hospital also helped in the weeks afterward with meet and greet sessions for potential foster care.
As they repaired and refurbished the building, Rahm and his son pulled out all the kennels and reinstalled them with insulation in between. New cabinets, furniture and ceiling tiles were also replaced. Old floor tiles were replaced, too, while all the other upgrades were taking place.
“It really gave us the ability to reimagine the entire shelter,” Rahm said.
Rahm, like other volunteers, has his own menagerie of pets in his home, including a great Dane puppy recently relinquished by a breeder because of a cleft lip and cleft palate. Rahm said the breeder brought the pup and a sibling to Midwest asking that they be euthanized but staff called PAWS, instead. Rahm took one and found a foster home for the other.
Volunteers also worked the crowd, showcasing several dogs up for adoption. Darlene Graf, of Palos Hills, who was holding Choko, an 8-year-old terrier mix, was happy to be back with her colleagues and the animals at PAWS.
“Everybody’s excited to be back,” Graf said. “They all missed the dogs.”
Christina Lopez, who lives in Burns Harbor, Indiana, came to show her support. Lopez, a cat lover who also enjoys dogs, keeps in touch with area shelters and donates food, supplies and funds.
“It’s always good to support all the animals,” Lopez said as she talked to a dog named Hippo, who was watching the events from a cage. “Every little bit helps. They need homes, they need a little love. It’s a really good organization.”
Tinley Park resident Pam Franckow checked out the cats with volunteer Susan Safran, of Mokena.
“They’re compassionate and dedicated and everybody who’s involved here just works tirelessly to achieve the same goals — to house the pets that have lost their homes, take care of them and pay their medical bills before they’re adopted,” she said. “This is exciting, everything is so sparkling new and the animals look very good.”
Volunteer Fran Jochum, who was staffing the front desk during the event, said she couldn’t wait to return to the facility as it was being rehabilitated.
“It’s wonderful to see the people back but also all the animals — you miss the animals,” Jochum said.
It was good even to get back to the regular sounds of PAWS Tinley Park.
“It was so quiet until we got the dogs back in,” said board member Peggy Grimm. “We all missed the sounds of their barking.”
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
