New Papago Park Campus

Arizona Humane Society Building Rendering

The Campaign to Transform Animal Welfare

In 2013, we knew we had to dramatically accelerate our efforts to save more animals. We introduced new, lifesaving programs. We became more innovative in our animal intake processes. We even fought for pets in the courtroom. And through it all, we began to reimagine the very notion of animal welfare.

The result is the most rapid transformation ever achieved by an animal welfare agency: a dramatic 82% decrease in euthanasia and a 61% reduction in intake.

But There Is More Work to Do

Despite this progress, there are still thousands of homeless and abused pets who need our help. It has become clear that we are not limited by our determination, but by our facilities. To meet the needs of the pets in our state, our 64-year-old Sunnyslope facility needs to be replaced.

Building a Better Future for Arizona Pets

It has long been our vision to create a state-of-the-art facility to meet the needs of our rapidly growing community. And on November 4, 2021, we took our biggest step yet to making this vision a reality: we broke ground on our new campus. This new location near Papago Park (at the juncture of the 202 and 143 freeways) will allow us to offer comprehensive rescue, medical and behavioral care for pets at a level not yet seen in the United States. And we’d love to give you a peek at the great things to come.

The Impact of the Papago Park Campus

Our new facility will create a stronger system of care for homeless pets throughout the state while combating overpopulation and keeping more pets in homes.

  • 25% more homeless animals receiving trauma and medical treatment

  • 22% increase in response to calls reporting abuse, cruelty and neglect

  • 109% more spay/neuter surgeries, completely filling the need that population growth creates over the next five years

  • 40% more underserved pets receiving affordable veterinary care

  • 24% more animals adopted into caring homes

  • 30% more animals transferred into Arizona Humane Society from Maricopa County Animal Care & Control

The Vision

Imagine a community where no animal suffers on the streets. Where animal homelessness and abuse are combated with leading-edge strategy and technology, hand-in-hand with concerned citizens and animal advocates.

Imagine a safe haven where severely injured and abused animals receive state-of-the-art medical and behavior rehabilitation interventions scarcely thinkable today.

Our vision is to create a comprehensive network of services for Arizona’s most vulnerable pets. The Papago Park Campus will serve as a regional hub and provide acute medical and trauma care, behavior rehabilitation, rescue and cruelty investigations, adoption resources and education programs. More specifically, the new campus will include:

  • Lazin Animal Foundation Trauma Hospital
  • Spay & Neuter Unit
  • Parvo ICU
  • Veterinarian Student Teaching Program and integrated tech for real-time surgery viewing 
  • Bottle Baby ICU
  • Mutternity & Meowternity Suites
  • Convenient EAMT™ ambulance zone and dedicated triage area
  • Flexible kennel space with maximum natural light to support circadian rhythms
  • Foster Wing and Animal Assistance Wing
  • Dog park and outdoor play yards
  • “Catios” for outdoor enrichments
  • Adoptions with calming “meet and greet” spaces
  • Retail store with gear-fitting areas for dogs
  • Classrooms and community spaces
  • Serenity Garden—a quiet, safe space for saying goodbye

A Network of Campuses

The Papago Park Campus greatly expands our capacity to serve Arizona pets. Meanwhile, the Nina Mason Pulliam South Mountain Campus will become a safe haven for pets in our care who need the most time, intensive recovery and rehabilitation from situations like hoarding, disaster relief, and cruelty cases. And while the Sunnyslope Campus will be sunsetting the majority of its services, we will continue to operate its Marge Wright Veterinary Clinic to provide affordable pet care to the Sunnyslope community.

Fulfilling the Vision

The cost of acquiring the land was $4.5 million. Building the new facility will be another $41.5 million. This is no everyday undertaking.

With the leadership of staff and the Board of Directors, AHS has committed an investment of $17 million in capital reserves over the next five years to fulfill the two-campus solution. The remaining $28 million will come from our friends and supporters who believe in this project.

To date, over $26 million dollars for our new Papago Park Campus has been raised from a very special group of donors. Additionally, we have partnered with a generous general contracting firm with expertise in medical and hospital construction who has committed to building the facility at cost and assisting us with securing at cost or in-kind materials from sub-contractors.

These leadership gifts have laid the foundation for a state-of-the-art animal hospital and adoption center unlike anything the Southwest has ever seen. While we have made great progress, we still require the support of our most loyal donors to make this vision a reality.

There are many exciting opportunities to invest in the Arizona Humane Society’s comprehensive system of care. Join us to transform our community and save the lives of so many pets in need.

For available naming opportunities, please contact Nancy Mitchell, our Senior Manager, Major & Campaign Gifts, at 602.323.8834 or via email.

Steve Hansen Portrait

Guided by Expert Leadership

The Arizona Humane Society is honored to have the most passionate, committed and successful animal welfare advocates in the community leading this initiative.

Campaign Leadership

Campaign News

black and white puppy

Join Us on the Journey

Want to get the inside scoop on the new facility? Sign up for campaign updates, and you’ll receive regular emails on our progress toward creating a better future for Arizona pets.

Sign Up for Updates