MIDDLEBURG – The 55-gallon orange traffic barrels and Road Closed signs suggest otherwise, but Safe Animal Shelter Executive Director Sandy Summerton said it’s perfectly all right to ignore the barricades.

The county’s first no-kill animal shelter is trapped behind a wall of confusion, frustration and construction signs on County Road 220 between Knight Boxx Road and the bridge over Little Black Creek. The county said a road-widening project to four lanes will take 16 months, which means Summerton’s crew of volunteers will rely on word of mouth, social media and print media to remind the community they still accept dogs and cats and have plenty for adoption.

CR 220 will be closed from Chief Ridaught Trail to Knight Boxx until May 2026, which means the only way to get to Safe Animal Shelter is to continue westbound on CR 200 past Knight Boxx and the Road Closed sign then make a U-turn 100 yards past the entrance. Another option is to make a right-turn from Knight Box – though a sign at the intersection states "No right turns" – and make the same U-turn.

“People are having difficulty finding us, because it says, 'Local traffic only' or 'No thru traffic,'” Summerton said. “They're not realizing that they can still come and see us. So, keep coming. Please tell everyone to keep coming to us.”

The lobby is filled with puppies the shelter recently received from Bradford County, while the back wall is filled with caged cats.

“We don't have a lot of kittens on site, so when it gets into kitten season, we'll probably have a lot,” Summerton said. “Right now, we can get all the dogs moving out. We're getting a lot of dog adoptions, but the puppies just came in the other day, so we have a lot of puppies right now.”

The shelter has talked with the construction company weekly about placing a digital sign at the intersection to inform the public that the shelter is open and driving around the closure is allowed.

We've asked for the sign every week since they started,” she said. “They said it'll be here the next week. So far, it’s still not here.”

The project started on Jan. 20.

The shelter is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. To see dogs and cats that are available for adoption, visit safeanimalshelter.com.