MOSES LAKE - Grant County Animal Outreach is selling sponsorships to fund the removal of chipping paint.

Community Awareness and Education Director Melody Sheriff said the cost of the project is approximately $8,000. Businesses or members of the community can purchase a yearlong sponsorship of a kennel to help fund the improvements, Sheriff said.

"Every concrete surface has either aged sealer or latex paint over aged sealer," she said.

The organization handed out leaflets about the program to 150 businesses in the community.

The maternity ward and isolation areas received sponsors, she noted.

"The largest areas are already spoken for," she said.

Chipping paint can harbor disease, Manager Mary DeHerrera said in a previous interview.

Kennels in the puppy run can be sponsored for $275. Kennels in the big dog run can be sponsored for $175. Kennels in the outside dog run can be sponsored by a group or business for $125, or by three individuals at a cost of $50 each.

Thirty-five kennels were without sponsors Thursday.

Everyone who sponsors a kennel receives their name on a plaque, to be placed on the kennel being sponsored, Sheriff said.

The project to remove chipping paint is part of a list of several projects the shelter is working on, as funds become available.

The organization is also seeking donations for their "cat haven project," to include finishing the isolation area, sick ward, maternity room, and construction of larger spaces for cats.

Materials and labor donations are welcome as well, Sheriff said.

Shelter representatives ask for donations to be sent to Grant County Animal Outreach, P.O. Box 489, Moses Lake, 98837. They ask checks be marked for the kennel fund or for the cat haven project.