Ashley Shoults, Animal Arts

In this episode, Stacy sits down with Ashley Shoults, a principal w/ Animal Arts, an architecture firm in Boulder, Colorado that specializes exclusively in the design of animal care facilities, including animal shelters, veterinary facilities, and pet boarding facilities. Ashley is currently working on the design of a new facility for PAWS Seattle and she recently co-authored a book covering all aspects of animal care design, Practical Guide to Veterinary Hospital Design. Stacy and Ashley talk about the importance of design in every aspect of animal care, from feral cat feeding stations to the spaces we care for our cats in. As Ashley puts it, "We need to constantly be thinking about how the people use the space, and how the animals use the space and how do we make it an environment that the animals will also thrive in." They go on to discuss how community cats should be accounted for in design and planning, which Ashley sees as a big area for opportunity and growth in our shelters in terms of how we house community cats and how we reduce stress for them. Ashley also has some words of advice for proceeding with a new design project from a financial perspective and how you can flex your space by having a variety of smaller "pod" spaces. To learn more, see photos of their work, and reach out for a consultation, visit the Animal Arts website.