ROCK HILL, NY — The Sullivan County SPCA celebrated the official opening of its new medical isolation building during an open house event on Wednesday, April 4. The event was hosted in conjunction with Monticello Motor Club and Art in Motion Concours d’Elegance, which are collectively responsible for the $25,000 donation that allowed the SPCA to complete the project.

The new building, welcomed with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony, will function as a quarantined space for sick animals undergoing treatment, while keeping healthy animals at the main shelter protected from incoming disease.

“We don’t know what these poor animals have been exposed to before they come into our care,” SPCA shelter manager Debbie Dittert said. “By having a place to assess and treat these animals outside of the main kennel area, we can literally save lives.”

The $25,000 donation was raised through a special auction hosted by Art in Motion Concours d’Elegance at Monticello Motor Club last fall. Items auctioned specifically to benefit the SPCA included a luxury vacation package, a 2005 C6 Corvette and a racing helmet. Both the Corvette and the racing helmet were painted by the artists of ABXY Gallery with the guidance of Frank Stella, an iconic figure of post-war American Art and a new member of MMC. One of the auction winners/donors (who has asked to remain anonymous) was on hand for Wednesday’s celebration, and ended up leaving with two new dachshund puppies, Dittert said.

Attendees to Wednesday’s event donated an additional $2,000 in cash and checks to support the SPCA, an amount that Monticello Motor Club Chief Operating Officer Alex Wolenski personally matched with a check of his own.

“My wife, Katrina, and I have adopted three cats from the Sullivan County SPCA since we moved to the area, so we know firsthand the quality of care the shelter provides to its animals,” Wolenski said. “It’s our pleasure to personally contribute to the SPCA’s great work.”

“It’s important to us to adopt from a shelter like the SPCA, as opposed to visiting a breeder, because it helps save the lives of animals who need a home.”

The shelter has been contending with a growing number of “dump jobs,” animals abandoned at the shelter after hours. Many of those animals arrive with myriad diseases, many of which are highly contagious. Canine parvovirus (commonly called parvo), for example, can cause life-threatening illness in puppies and dogs. Just one infected dog with parvo can kill eight puppies.

 “The medical isolation building gives us the ability to properly treat and rehabilitate these animals,” said Dittert. “Those with parvo have a better chance to beat the sickness. And like the chicken pox in humans, survivors are protected from re-infection.”

All of the money raised during the event will go toward the purchase of four “luxury cat condos,” which include their own ventilation systems to prevent the spread of disease. To donate to the Sullivan County SPCA, send checks to 104 Rock Hill Dr., Rock Hill, NY, 12775 or donate at www.sullivanspca.org/paypal-donation/.