Thanks to a grant from PetSmart Charities, the Lawrence Humane Society is $50,000 further along in its fundraising efforts to build a new animal shelter.

The Humane Society has been raising money toward the $7.5 million project since last spring. Shelter leaders said they are grateful for the PetSmart grant and that it contributes to the larger goal of saving the lives of more animals.

“It’s also a huge testament to our current — and future — efforts to help pets in our community,” Humane Society Executive Director Kate Meghji said in a press release. “In 2017, we saved more lives than ever before in our organization’s history.”

The Humane Society’s goal is to raise $5 million in private donations toward the project, and Meghji said they now have less than $880,000 to raise. The City of Lawrence plans to provide a $2.5 million grant toward the project.

The new shelter will be built on the Humane Society’s current site, 1805 E. 19th St., and once it’s complete, the old shelter will be torn down. Plans previously shared with the Journal-World call for the new building to have an expanded medical clinic and better isolation rooms for sick animals, which Meghji has said would allow the organization to save more animals.