Puppies and kittens and kennels, oh my.

Staff and volunteers at the Lawrence Humane Society on Tuesday moved meowing, barking cargo from the society’s existing building to clear the way for improvements that must be made before the society can take advantage of its new space for stray animals.

Rikki Swearengin, a Lawrence Humane Society worker for 3 1/2 years, moves Brandy, a shepherd mix, to the new 5,000-square-foot addition at the shelter. Tuesday's move to the new building is temporary for the adoptable animals until the original shelter is repainted.

Fifty or 60 adoptable kittens and puppies and 80 dogs were part of the pet parade into the recently completed 5,000-square-foot building adjacent to the current facility that will be home to the society’s stray animals. Once crews paint the floor in the main building, bringing it into compliance with state animal health codes, the adoptable animals will move back and the strays, which are living in a back area of the current building, will move into the new facility.

The new building will allow the society to house about five times the number of stray dogs a jump to 96 from 18 and nearly 12 times the number of stray cats up to 250 from 21 it can currently hold, said Midge Grinstead, Lawrence Humane Society director.

“It’s really going to change the way we do things,” she said. “Right now, I have a waiting list. If you’re an owner and you want to bring in a cat, you can’t bring it in until the first week of August.

“We’re just really excited. It’s going to make our lives much easier and the animals’ lives better.”

The transition is expected to take a week. During the move, adoptions will be conducted from the new building, and owners will be able to pick up strays in the current building.

The society has paid for all but $110,000 of the new $420,000 facility through donations and fund-raising projects, Grinstead said. It’s looking for more public help to pay off the rest of the loan and with supplies to carry the shelter through its busy summer months.

“I’ve been to Wal-Mart like every other day for the last three weeks,” Grinstead said, adding that when the shelter had to spring for extra supplies, little money remained for vaccinating and medicating animals.

The shelter desperately needs paper towels, bleach, cat litter, kitten food, puppy food, dog food and dish soap.

	The shelter needs paper towels, bleach, cat litter, kitten food, puppy food, dog food and dish soap.Items may be dropped off at the shelter, 1805 E. 19th St., and donations by check may be mailed to P.O. Box 651, Lawrence 66044.

Items may be dropped off at the shelter, 1805 E. 19th St., and donations by check may be mailed to P.O. Box 651, Lawrence 66044.

Katie Lennear, a shelter staff member who spent Tuesday evening walking dogs from one building to the other, said the additional space for strays would be welcome.

“It will separate the strays from the adoption area and hopefully will make it easier for us to keep the buildings clean,” she said.