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Suzie Tracy, owner of Sempronius shelter Canine Cove, was unanimously approved by City Council to take over Auburn's dog protection and kennel services at its meeting on Thursday.

According to the , the city issued a request for proposals in January and Canine Cove's was the only one it received. The one-year, renewable  pays a lump sum of $125,000.

Tracy replaces Carl Collier, of the Finger Lakes Dog Protection Agency, who retired at the end of last year. Collier provided services for several towns in the northern half of Cayuga County as well.

When he retired, Tracy told ÈËÊÞÐÔ½», she saw an opportunity to open her own shelter after almost 20 years of working as a dog control officer herself, most recently for Country Acres Animal Shelter in Homer. She will continue to work part-time for that shelter, which provides services in Moravia and other towns in the southern half of the county, until she takes over services in Auburn. 

The city will join 13 other municipalities in the county now served by Canine Cove. Tracy said it will be challenging to deal with more people and dogs in a smaller area, but she's excited for it.

"The biggest challenge is going to be getting to know the people and the dogs," she said. "After a while you'll go, 'Oh, that's so and so's dog.' You always have your regulars." 

Built last year, Canine Cove has five indoor kennels and five outdoor ones. Construction began this week on another six of each to accommodate what Tracy expects will be more dogs from the city.

Along with boarding dogs until they can be reunited with their people, the shelter is adopting ones that don't find their way back to their homes. It currently has two dogs available for adoption, and more information on them can be found at . Tracy plans to form a nonprofit for the shelter as well, she said, and it will host events like meet-and-greets for adoptable dogs.

Tracy is helped at Canine Cove by her 19-year-old son James, who does "a lot of the running," she joked. Her fiancé, Chris Brown, helps with maintenance and construction of the kennels. She will also eventually hire a part-time employee to help operate the shelter due to the amount of record-keeping one involves, much of which is required by New York State Agricultural & Markets Law. 

"A lot more goes into it than people think," Tracy said. "But this is the same thing I've been doing. It's just going to keep me busier."