Welcome to the internet home of the Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society (GPAAS), a registered Non-Profit organization. Founded in 1997, our mission is to serve the Grosse Pointes and neighboring communities as a foster home based, non-euthanasia, organization that finds suitable homes for indoor companion animals that have been abandoned, surrendered or found. GPAAS is also a State licensed Animal Protection Facility proudly serving those municipalities with which we have contracts as well as other first responders in metropolitan Detroit since 2012. Many heartfelt thanks to the people that support and work so hard every day here at GPAAS. We place 500+ companion animals annually and have placed well over 11,000 since 1997.
Thomas A. Mackey Animal Adoption Center to Open Fall 2019
May 15, 2019
Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society (GPAAS) announced today that thanks to a generous friend of animals it has purchased a 4,700 sq. ft. building more than half again as large as its current animal care facility at 20048 Harper Ave., Harper Woods and nearby rented office space. When renovated, the structure will provide a spacious, up-to-date environment for the growing number of animals GPAAS has been called on to serve in recent years.
Learning of the group’s wish to grow and improve its service, Grosse Pointe Farms resident Thomas A. Mackey scouted the area, found the building for GPAAS at 20542 Harper Ave., Harper Woods, and funded its purchase.
“Under the leadership of founder and director Corinne Martin, GPAAS has been helping animals find new homes in the East Side community for over 20 years,” Mackey said. “The group wants to upgrade its service by inviting prospective adopters to interact six days a week with adoptable animals on site and by giving its dogs and cats more room to live, exercise, and meet potential adopters. I believe in this mission. I appreciate its importance for our community and wanted to support it in a meaningful way.”
Since its founding, GPAAS has introduced pets to potential adopters at bi-monthly adoption events at different venues including the Children’s Home of Detroit, which was demolished in 2012. It currently brings cats and dogs to meet the public every other Saturday at The Helm, formerly Services for Older Citizens, on Ridge Rd. in Grosse Pointe Farms.
“We’ve begun renovation of the new building,” said Martin, “and will soon launch a matching-fund campaign to raise $100,000 for interior construction and purchase of furnishings and equipment, from washer and dryer to tables and chairs. Nameplate recognition of donors will be offered. Once we move in, interested families will be able to visit prospective pets in the new building almost any day of the week.”
Martin said the impetus to acquire the new building was provided by a strategic planning committee headed by GPAAS vice president Lynn Schneider. Committee members William Rands III, Donald Lindow, and Gary Spicer joined Schneider in developing a management succession plan and determining what GPAAS’s physical and financial needs will be for the foreseeable future. The purchase itself was facilitated by the legal services of Grosse Pointe attorney James Bellanca III.
It was through the planning committee’s work that Mackey determined he could, and would, play a significant role. He had previously funded the purchase of land for the Michigan Humane Society’s new facility on Chrysler Drive in Detroit, and expressed a wish to assist the Grosse Pointe group.
Said Martin, “We are beyond excited to be able to give the community for the first time a walk-through animal shelter where people can come daily to see and adopt dogs and cats on site. We’ve dreamed of this for more than 20 years. It would not have been possible without the unbelievable passion for animals and their welfare of Tom Mackey. In his honor, the new facility will be named the Thomas A. Mackey Animal Adoption Center.”
The building was erected in 1949. During the 1960s and ‘70s, it was a club well-known to young Grosse Pointers as the HideOut, famous for its avant garde rock scene featuring such acts as Bob Seger and the Heard, the 4 of Us with Glenn Frey, the Pleasure Seekers with Suzi Quatro, The Underdogs, and the MC5, to name just a few.
A move-in date for the new building has not been announced, but Martin said GPAAS is aiming for September, 2019.
Thomas A. Mackey Animal Adoption Center to Open Fall 2019
May 15, 2019
Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society (GPAAS) announced today that thanks to a generous friend of animals it has purchased a 4,700 sq. ft. building more than half again as large as its current animal care facility at 20048 Harper Ave., Harper Woods and nearby rented office space. When renovated, the structure will provide a spacious, up-to-date environment for the growing number of animals GPAAS has been called on to serve in recent years.
Learning of the group’s wish to grow and improve its service, Grosse Pointe Farms resident Thomas A. Mackey scouted the area, found the building for GPAAS at 20542 Harper Ave., Harper Woods, and funded its purchase.
“Under the leadership of founder and director Corinne Martin, GPAAS has been helping animals find new homes in the East Side community for over 20 years,” Mackey said. “The group wants to upgrade its service by inviting prospective adopters to interact six days a week with adoptable animals on site and by giving its dogs and cats more room to live, exercise, and meet potential adopters. I believe in this mission. I appreciate its importance for our community and wanted to support it in a meaningful way.”
Since its founding, GPAAS has introduced pets to potential adopters at bi-monthly adoption events at different venues including the Children’s Home of Detroit, which was demolished in 2012. It currently brings cats and dogs to meet the public every other Saturday at The Helm, formerly Services for Older Citizens, on Ridge Rd. in Grosse Pointe Farms.
“We’ve begun renovation of the new building,” said Martin, “and will soon launch a matching-fund campaign to raise $100,000 for interior construction and purchase of furnishings and equipment, from washer and dryer to tables and chairs. Nameplate recognition of donors will be offered. Once we move in, interested families will be able to visit prospective pets in the new building almost any day of the week.”
Martin said the impetus to acquire the new building was provided by a strategic planning committee headed by GPAAS vice president Lynn Schneider. Committee members William Rands III, Donald Lindow, and Gary Spicer joined Schneider in developing a management succession plan and determining what GPAAS’s physical and financial needs will be for the foreseeable future. The purchase itself was facilitated by the legal services of Grosse Pointe attorney James Bellanca III.
It was through the planning committee’s work that Mackey determined he could, and would, play a significant role. He had previously funded the purchase of land for the Michigan Humane Society’s new facility on Chrysler Drive in Detroit, and expressed a wish to assist the Grosse Pointe group.
Said Martin, “We are beyond excited to be able to give the community for the first time a walk-through animal shelter where people can come daily to see and adopt dogs and cats on site. We’ve dreamed of this for more than 20 years. It would not have been possible without the unbelievable passion for animals and their welfare of Tom Mackey. In his honor, the new facility will be named the Thomas A. Mackey Animal Adoption Center.”
The building was erected in 1949. During the 1960s and ‘70s, it was a club well-known to young Grosse Pointers as the HideOut, famous for its avant garde rock scene featuring such acts as Bob Seger and the Heard, the 4 of Us with Glenn Frey, the Pleasure Seekers with Suzi Quatro, The Underdogs, and the MC5, to name just a few.
A move-in date for the new building has not been announced, but Martin said GPAAS is aiming for September, 2019.
