Animal shelters need good planning in order to be successful.
I recently toured a large facility in a neighboring town and learned a few characteristics which would be valuable for any group planning a new facility to know.
Plan for several visiting rooms.
Once a prospective owner has selected an animal they'd like to see closer up, they'll need a comfortable, quiet place to sit and become acquainted with the cat or dog.
Small rooms with a seating area and proper outlets on the floor in case of accident are good ways to ensure the animal is safely contained while the prospective owner gets to interact with them.
Consider creating a cat viewing area that has a natural traffic flow pattern.
Many shelters place cats in a straight row of cages.
That can become uncomfortable for the cats (who can smell and hear but not see their neighbors) and make for an awkward traffic pattern for prospective adoptive parents.
If that happens, people get rushed and choose to leave, and adoption rates may suffer.
But if you can build a curved glass interior wall (kind of like a horseshoe) with an entrance in the middle, people can view the cats from the outside as well as the inside.
The shape allows cats on opposite sides to see each other, which could reduce stress on the cats.
It's also a good idea for prospective parents to see animals interact with one another, to help gauge their temperament.
While it may not be possible to place several dogs in a single open space for safety concerns, it's possible to do that with the less aggressive cats.
If you can build a large cat room with glass walls, then you can fill it with some cat trees.
The kitties which live inside will get to interact with one another and play on the cat trees.
If your shelter has a retail store, then displaying the cat trees in this manner could also encourage sales, creating a revenue opportunity for the organization.