DAPHNE — Daphne Animal Shelter has a new home to better suit the needs of their animals.

On Saturday, Daphne Animal Shelter cut the ribbon to their new state-of-the-art facility located at 7145 Johnson Road. Daphne Mayor Robin LeJeune was in attendance to speak about the new location and cut the ribbon, with guests being able to tour the new facility.

"One of the great things about this facility is it is built for the next 20 years," LeJeune told guests at the ceremony. "It is a large building, and it's got a lot of great unique things to it. ... We want people to be able to feel welcome and want to be here."

One part of what the new Daphne Animal Shelter is aiming for is to make it a community center, which is why it includes a classroom that can be used for corporate meetings as well as for the community, with LeJeune saying that a women's study group already has plans to use it.

The new facility also has meet-and-greet rooms for guests to have intimate experiences with the shelter's animals as well as new rooms dubbed "catios." These are rooms for cats that connect to an open patio area out front where cats can go in and out of for sunlight.

With the animal shelter needing to expand with their increasing number of animals — the shelter takes in around 800-1,000 animals a year — the new shelter also helps accommodate Daphne's rapid growth.

"We're now moving into the city of Daphne, not just the town of Daphne, with our growth, and that's what this is about," LeJeune said. "This is about moving forward as a city."

Along with their staff, Daphne Animal Shelter also has volunteering opportunities, which LeJeune said he hopes residents and animal lovers alike will take advantage of.

"That's another reason we made this facility the way it is," LeJeune said. "We want you to volunteer. We want you to be part of this community, be part of what we're doing here in Daphne and feel good about coming and being part of this and volunteering."