Our New Rob & Melani Walton Papago Park Campus

Papago Park Campus is an animal hospital first and foremost. Our job is to save the lives of sick, injured, abandoned and abused homeless pets, rehabilitate them, and then find them new homes. Here’s how:

• Created a revolutionary Lazin Animal Foundation Trauma Hospital unlike any other in the Southwest complete with a trauma triage unit
• Expanded our dedicated ICUs including the Susan & Mark Mulzet Parvo ICU, Withycombe Family Mutternity Suites and Doris Norton Kitten Nursery Unit
• Broadened innovative behavioral support and training
• Equipped kennels with separate ventilation systems to prevent spread of contagious illnesses
• Installed open-air catios so our feline friends can spend time in the fresh outdoors
• Built sensory gardens full of aromatic herbs like Rosemary to stimulate animal senses
• Hand-poured kennel floors to get just the right slope for easier upkeep
• Designed areas with thoughtful acoustics to minimize noise pollution
• Reduced number of kennels in each pod to prevent pet overstimulation
• Selected paint colors to be easy on a pet’s eyes
• Put in adjustable lighting systems to mimic circadian rhythms and help with healing

In 2023, 22,000 animals entered our doors. That was a 20% increase from just one year earlier, and we couldn’t have cared for any of them without our dedicated staff. We designed our Papago Park Campus to help our team members thrive with:

• Plenty of big windows to let in natural light
• Numerous flex office spaces for team members visiting from sister campuses
• In-house Echo Coffee Shop to provide staff (and visitors) with a readily available pick-me-up
• Artwork and designs by artist Ula Nero lining the walls to brighten everyone’s day
• Numerous patios and outdoor workstations with fresh air
• Solar panels and backup generators to keep us cool and running during hot Arizona summers
• Endless gathering areas fashioned to enrich lives by leveraging the animal-human bond

Our Papago Park Campus acts as one big window into the work that we do at AHS each day. Our mission mentions serving both pets and people in our community and we strive to provide visitors an intimate experience with our operations to show that animal welfare organizations can be a place for hope. Here’s how:

• When we say windows, we mean it. Dozens of windows make up this campus, many of which offer a direct line of sight into our hospital and ICU operations
• A spay/neuter viewing area allows aspiring veterinary students to observe the hundreds of alteration surgeries our staff accomplishes each week
• Our Emergency Animal Medical Technicians™ enter through the same front doors you do
• Our expanded Education and Outreach Department, with our Animal Teachers visible in engaging enclosures along the walls of our Jamie L. Middleton Welcome Lobby, allows us to reach hundreds of thousands of the Valley’s animal lovers and advocates while also promoting our youth programs such as camps and workshops
• Our open-air play yards allow visitors to see our Behavior Team at work, enriching the lives of pets and teaching them essential skills

We want our Papago Park Campus to last as a pillar of hope for homeless animals in the Southwest. Our pioneering Sunnyslope location operated for 67 years, all without the revolutionary technology that is powering Papago Park, so we expect to be around for decades to come. Here’s how:

• 75% of our electricity is being produced by 1,055 generously-donated solar panels to cut down on cost and energy waste
• Thoughtful design and installation of kennel floors makes it easier for staff to clean and maintain while preventing the spread of disease
• Low-water landscaping to combat excess water usage
• Saloon-type doors in each kennel for energy efficiency
• Overall, this campus will eventually allow us to treat 25% more animals, place 24% more pets in forever homes and provide 40% more pets with affordable veterinary care for many years to come