PRINCETON: Animal shelter looking to break ground

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   Princeton’s animal shelter will look to break ground in April on its new shelter in Montgomery Township, the first step of an eventual relocation after more than 70 years on Herrontown Road.
   Piper H. Burrows, executive director of SAVE, A Friend to Homeless Animals, said Friday that she expected construction on the roughly 8,200 square foot building to move quickly. In the meantime, the organization is “eagerly” awaiting getting final building permits, she said.
   The shelter will be located next to the Montgomery High School on Route 601 in nearby Somerset County. The building, due to cost around $1.3 million, will occupy part of 12 acres — most which is undevelopable wetlands — that was donated to SAVE.
   The land includes the James Van Zandt house, a 19th century Italianate Villa style residence named after a farmer in the community, that will serve as the administrative office of SAVE and the office for an undisclosed family foundation.
   The house, once abandoned, passed into state ownership and became a low security juvenile detention facility. After that ended, the state intended to tear down the impressive structure. The land including the house was bought in 2001 by Friends of Homeless Animals of Trenton and Mercer, an organization that subsequently merged with SAVE in 2004.
   The relocation will include transporting the animals, equipment, furniture and other supplies from the old building. Due to open in mid to late October, the T-shaped shelter will have a capacity to hold 75 cats and 25 dogs, Ms. Burrows said.
   Ms. Burrows said there have been no decisions on what becomes of SAVE’s roughly three-acre property in Princeton. The land, zoned for office and retail uses, is tied up in the trust of the late Cornelia Jaynes, a veterinarian who co-founded SAVE in 1941. Ms. Jaynes, who died in 1969, gave the property to the organization, although there is a deed restriction that says the property must be used for an animal shelter.
   The SAVE property consists of the current shelter, built in 1971, and two other dwellings: a cottage where the administration office is located, and Mr. Jaynes’ old farmhouse that is from the 1750s.
   SAVE began as pet rescue organization with Ms. Jaynes keeping the animals on her farm, the current shelter property. Through the years, SAVE has merged with other pet organizations including most recently Friends of Homeless Animals.
   Today, the shelter cares for about 400 animals each year, including those brought in from the animal control officers in Princeton and Lawrenceville.