With the help of a four-legged friend, Seattle Humane broke ground on a new shelter and medical facility that will pave the way for their partnership with the Washington State University veterinary school and increase the amount of furry friends they are able to take in annually.

“The two things that are important here are the animals we get to save and the families who get to love the animals we rescue,” Loewe said at the Feb. 27 groundbreaking.

Over the next 18 months, Seattle Human will be constructing a new three-story, 57,000-square-foot animal shelter, adoption center and teaching hospital at their existing Southeast Eastgate Way location that they are saying will be a first in the region.

With the increase in space, they will be able to place 10,000 animals in homes each year, compared to the 7,000 they place currently.

The existing building was built in the 1960s, and the organization says the aging, space-constrained facility isn’t in line with their goals.

“Let’s take a moment of silence for the demise of this old, decrepit, smoldering pile of dog poop. It has served us well, but we’re glad to see it go,” Seattle Humane board member David Falco said during the groundbreaking.

Seattle Humane first began contemplating an expansion and rebuild in summer 2009. The idea gained a foothold when they partnered with WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine to bring teaching hospital to the Eastside.

Around 75 WSU students participated in rotations at Seattle Humane in 2015, but during the first 10 years of operation, they estimate 1,300 students will be trained in the new clinic.

“We found that the medical clinic was like the small ring at the center in an hourglass. We knew we needed a bigger facility to handle the animals coming through,” Seattle Humane CEO David Loewe said.

The organization also accepts scores of animals from smaller shelters that do not have the resources to house them, with some being flown in from California and Hawaii.

Because of transfers like this, the number of animals saved from shelters that otherwise have to euthanize unadopted animals has increased in Washington over the last few years, Loewe said.

Data released by King County this week shows that animal euthanizations have been on a steady decline over the last dozen years, dropping from 40 percent at county shelters in 2006 to roughly 10 percent in 2015.

In the first 10 years post-construction, Seattle Humane says that they will be able to rescue 25,000 additional pets from high-kill shelters and communities without shelters. Around 20,000 additional pets from outside facilities will receive surgical care at the new Seattle Humane clinic.

Seattle Humane has raised $22 million out of an overall $25 million fundraising goal.

They will continue to operate out of its current facility during construction, although their administrative staff will be moved to a temporary location in Downtown Bellevue. They will also be relocating their Pet Food Bank to Issaquah later this month. The move is temporary, and the food bank will return to Bellevue once construction is completed.

The new facility is slated to open in late 2017.