Pittsburgh will be home to the largest open-door animal shelter in western Pennsylvania once the boards of two major nonprofits merge by Jan. 1, 2017.
The Animal Rescue League and Western Pennsylvania Humane Society announced Friday that a vote earlier this week solidified the amalgamation.
Dan Rossi, executive director of the ARL, will become CEO of the combined company. He said both organizations were looking to hire key positions and the concept of a merger made sense.
“As we started talking with each other, they just sort of meshed together,” Rossi said. “Ultimately, at the end of the day, the mission is going to be able to serve better, which means we’re going to be able to save more animals and care for more animals.”
While Rossi stressed that numbers had not yet been finalized, he said he expects the companies will save about $600,000 and operate with a combined budget of around $7.5 million annually. The savings would be accomplished through combining like-positions, having one audit and running one operating system.
Dave Grubman, president of the board of the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, who will become president of the new board, said none of the two organization’s shelters would close and no staff cuts were anticipated.
“We have two different shelters that serve two distinct parts of the Pittsburgh community. They’re both important and they’re both going to remain open,” he said.
The Humane Society operates a shelter on Pittsburgh's North Side. The Animal Rescue League has a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Verona, Pa. and is building a new facility in the East End. They also have their main shelter in Larimer, that has been sold. Grubman said they plan to move animals from both to the new site, which is nearly double the size of the old building, around in January of 2017.
The combined company will operate under a new name that's yet to be chosen. In the meantime, Rossi said the organizations will begin integrating media and programming.
