Animals of all shapes and sizes soon may have a better chance of survival in Miami County, as Olive’s Hope Pet Rescue announced plans at a Jan. 17 board meeting to build an animal shelter.

The organization is moving at lightning speed, and is already organizing a steering committee and beginning to implement fundraising plans and goals.

Sandra Hartley, co-chairman of the steering committee, along with Miami County Sheriff Frank Kelly, said the shelter has been a long time coming.

According to a news release, the design phase has already commenced with a design subcommittee making visits to area shelters, discussing practical issues with existing shelter directors and accumulating design plans. In addition, Kelly noted at the meeting that there is a growing concern about the number of abandoned and lost pets in Miami County.

“We really feel that Olive’s Hope’s candle has been under a bush,” Hartley said in a separate interview, adding that she had never heard of the 501(c)(3) public charity until March when she adopted her own pet. “I think they do incredible work, and I so admire all of them. It’s stunning what they do ... We are all very excited about what is planned, and the design phase has just begun and should be completed by March 15.”

Currently, according to the release, the Miami County Sheriff’s Office picked up 93 animals in 2011 and surrendered them to the current pound, which retains animals for 3 to 10 days. In addition, it was noted that the county currently pays about $4,500 a year for services rendered by Franklin County’s Prairie Paws shelter.

Although Hartley said there is no hard copy of the design plans just yet, the shelter is conceptually designed, and members of the board continue to visit area shelters and acquire information. The hope is to have the shelter built by December 2012.

“It’s not 10 people doing 500 things, it’s 500 people doing 10 things,” she said. “That’s how it’s organized.”

Hartley said even though everyone is facing hard economic decisions, Miami County is a generous county itself.

“Generous, civic-minded people can make this happen,” she said. “My point is that these are hard economic times, but I don’t think that will hamper our ability to do this in a year.”

Hartley said that after adopting her own pet through Olive’s Hope, she discovered that if animals are picked up by local law enforcement officers, they are usually taken to a local shelter or veterinary clinic and killed in three to 10 days if not claimed.

“What it taught me is how hard Olive’s Hope works at fostering, as well as spaying and neutering animals, until they can get homes,” she said. “I decided, at that point, that we needed a shelter.”

Currently, she added, the steering committee is in the process of evaluating site options for the shelter, which will be centrally located in the county to provide easier accessibility to all cities.

Hartley said one of the first actions by the Miami County Olive’s Hope Pet Rescue Shelter Committee was to establish a speakers’ bureau called “Speak Out for Olive’s Hope.” Any civic organization in the county that would like to have a speaker make a presentation to their group can contact Hartley for more information. If residents are interested in becoming volunteer committee members, they can also contact Hartley.

For more information, visit www.oliveshope.com, contact Sheriff Kelly at fkelly@micosheriff.org or Hartley at sandrakayhartley@gmail.com.