How a ‘bulldog’ built her shelter

They could have just given up.

In June 2022, Jefferson County voters rejected a proposed levy to build and support a Boulder animal shelter. The proposal, which would have cost property owners an extra $265,365 each year, was almost identical to one voters had refused by the slimmest of margins two years prior. This time, though, the vote wasn’t close. The dream seemed dead.

“We were really discouraged,” recalled Cheryl Haasakker, president of Animal Shelter and Care of Jefferson County (AS&C), the citizen-led non-profit behind the proposal.