The ASTRO Foundation recently celebrated the grand opening of its North Fifth Avenue animal shelter and adoption building. ASTRO stands for the Animal Shelter to Riverbank and Oakdale, serving both communities.

The event occurred on Saturday, May 14 with the Grand Opening celebration encouraging members of the community to show support by meeting the sheltered animals with the hope of adoption, as well as take time to learn more about what ASTRO is all about. The event also gave attendees the chance to visit with other vendors, with other small businesses set up to be a part of the celebration.

Vendors such as Refuge Coffee, Oakdale Animal Shelter, and American Veterans First set up booths during the grand opening.

The building at 157 N. Fifth Ave., Oakdale, has been in the works since December of 2021, allowing the Foundation to have a separate building strictly to house animals and give people interested in adopting a place to go look and hopefully find their new furry animal friend.

During the grand opening, many cats were adopted and one of the older dogs was adopted as well.

“We are here doing our best to support homeless animals any way we can,” Director of Adoption Services Megan Scoullar stated. “We are just so grateful for our community.”

ASTRO’s main purpose is to rescue and re-home pets from Oakdale and Riverbank, and give residents in those and other communities a chance to either adopt or foster.

Foundation officials said they are searching for additional volunteers to help in any way that they can, either at the new North Fifth location or at the gift shop location on East E Street.

The various volunteer options and explanations can be found on the website astrofoundation.org/getinvolved or by calling 209-604-2649.