A Happy Ending? Cat Shelter Hoping to Relocate to Greenfield

Greenfield must have a soft spot for pet adoptions.

Just weeks after the city approved the to call Greenfield its home, Happy Endings No-Kill Cat Shelter, which has operated at 5349 Forest Home Ave. in Milwaukee since 1998, will have its proposal to relocate to 3318 Loomis Rd. heard by .

Happy Endings is dedicated to the housing, feeding, medical treatment and re-socialization of abused, orphaned, stray and unwanted kittens and cats. Adoption-ready cats would be housed on-site at 3318 Loomis Rd. while most other cats – such as sick and injured cats – would be housed in foster care.

According to information provided to the Plan Commission by Happy Endings treasurer Linda Green, the prospective property owner, Happy Endings is the longest established no-kill cat shelter in the Metro Milwaukee area. It was incorporated in 1994 and has been a charitable organization since 2001.

The center has outgrown its current space of approximately 800 square feet; the Loomis building is 2,400 square feet.

Happy Endings has no paid employees; the entire staff is made up of volunteers.

As a charitable, non-profit organization, Happy Endings, should it be granted its special use permit and relocate, will be exempt from paying property taxes. The city does have a voluntary payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, ordinance that helps the city recoup its portion of “lost” property taxes from tax-exempt entities.

According to Community Development Manager Chuck Erickson, Happy Endings officials have been made aware of the program, .

According to Plan Commission notes, Happy Endings intends to purchase both parcels at 3314 and 3318 W. Loomis Rd. occupies 3314 and would remain a tenant. Happy Endings would occupy 3318, a property with an assessed value of $144,000.