BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Teresa Cooper's dream of building a safe haven for abandoned pets became an official reality Sunday during the grand opening of the area's first no-kill animal sanctuary.

The Sundog Animal Sanctuary, three miles north of Bloomfield on Highway AB, will offer a temporary home to abandoned dogs and cats and provide a low-cost spay and neuter program.

Cooper, a resident of Delta who serves as president of the sanctuary's board of directors, said the idea originated around eight years ago, when she and a group of friends began joking about the number of homeless pets they were acquiring.

"We said if any of us ever won the lottery, we'd build a place to keep abandoned animals until we could find a safe home for them," Cooper said.

In the mid-1990s, Cooper was struck with a serious illness, so the group decided not to wait for a winning lottery ticket. Cooper and a member of the sanctuary's board of directors, Debbie Drew, traveled to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, for a weeklong seminar on establishing a no-kill sanctuary.

The group began attending various public events and distributing information about the sanctuary. Eventually, they received their designation as a 501(c)3 corporation, making all donations to the sanctuary tax-deductible.

Cooper said they plan to spend time in the local schools educating children on how to be responsible pet owners.

Missy McNeil of Bloomfield was one of around 75 people who attended the sanctuary's grand opening Sunday.

"I'm here to support the sanctuary. We really needed this, because there are so many abandoned pets around here. It's such a shame," McNeil said.

For the first few months, Cooper said the sanctuary will only cater to cats. By next spring, however, they plan to build several dog runs and a dog-walking trail.

According to Cooper, the facility should comfortably house between 75 and 100 cats. They have 16 right now, although Cooper said those are currently being held in foster homes because they didn't want the crowd at the grand opening to scare the cats.

Brenda Hawkins, who works at Stoddard Animal Clinic, said she fears the sanctuary may reach its capacity much sooner than anticipated.

But "a no-kill facility is a great idea, and it looks like a good setup," she said.

Instead of keeping the animals in cages, the sanctuary is "free roaming," with three large, adjoining cat rooms with access to outdoor screened-in areas.

"The sanctuary is wonderful. I'm an animal lover, and I would have loved to have been able to do this myself," said Jackie Retherford of Advance, Mo.

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128