BROOKSVILLE - Crunch time has loomed for years at the crowded animal shelter of the Humane Society of the Nature Coast. Now, the group has a multiphase solution to the problem.

The society has entered into a deal to buy 10 acres across from its site on Wiscon Road, with the ultimate goal of building more animal housing, a veterinary care center and an education center.

But the first improvement on the new property will be an outdoor memorial site and meditation park "to remember and honor our best friends who left us," said executive director Joanne Schoch.

The site will also help raise money for the expansion, as parts of the memorial garden will be available for sponsorship.

It's all part of the grand plan for the society to handle the increased demand for its services as an animal shelter.

"The economy has had a definite impact on homeless pets as more and more families are relinquishing their beloved friends due to an inability to care for them, whether caused by illness, unemployment or home foreclosures," Schoch recently told an audience of 300 patrons at the fundraising Fur Ball.

The current shelter is too limited, Schoch said, noting that the number of dog enclosures is inadequate. "Seventeen kennels is absolutely pathetic for the size of this community," she said.

The shelter, she pointed out, for 40 years has accepted pets from Pasco and Citrus counties, when accommodations are available.

Board president Michele Curtis explained that the expansion goals will allow the group to do more for the community. "The Humane Society will maintain the current care center and the purchase of this property will be an extension of the services provided," Curtis said.

The Humane Society is under contract to buy 10 acres along Wiscon Road for $165,000. Some $70,000 is available in capital funds. If the group can raise the rest by Nov. 31, sellers Charles and Cherryl Griffin have offered to donate $3,000 back to the society, Schoch said.

To finance the rest of the property purchase and to fully develop the expansion project, expected to cost between $3 million and $4 million, the group is moving in careful stages.

"If we do not take advantage of the lower property prices now, expansion could take much longer," Schoch said.

Besides the new enclosures for animals, the project envisions a veterinary center and education center that will provide conference space for teaching pet owners and students about animal health and care.

It also will include space to offer grief counseling for people who have lost their pets, Schoch said.

But first is the memorial site. It's in a back area among trees, "with a place (also) for cremated ashes of pets … with sponsor benches, memorial plaques and statuary in memory of pets," she said.

Supporters have already stepped forward in other ways.

Coastal Engineering Inc. of Brooksville is donating the service of a due diligence study to assure the land will accommodate the needs of the society and the community into the future.

Paul Montante, an employee of the Pasco County Engineering Department and vice president of the society's board of directors, is providing free his expertise on shelter development and architecture.

Montante has completed several certified courses in those subjects.

"We have faith that people care about the fate of homeless pets in this economy and will help as much as they can," Schoch said.

Beth Gray can be reached at graybethn@earthlink.net.