A drive to raise $3.2 million for a new Denton animal shelter is quietly under way after years of planning, even as the recession throws the timing of the project’s construction into doubt.

The Denton Animal Shelter Foundation has raised nearly $200,000 in pledges and gifts, mostly through one-on-one meetings with acquaintances, said Bette Sherman, chairwoman of the nonprofit foundation.

A higher-profile kickoff is planned for September, and Sherman said she hopes the drive can succeed despite tough economic times.

“I think it’s harder to raise money for any nonprofit right now,” she said. “But this particular campaign has got such an interesting target, a focused target, and that is people who care about pets. … I’m hoping that that will carry us through.”

The planned shelter is expected to cost $7 million to $10 million, said Mayor Pro Tem Pete Kamp, vice chairwoman of the foundation. City officials won’t know an exact cost until they accept bids for the construction contract, which isn’t likely to happen until at least next year, she said.

The City Council approved an agreement with the shelter foundation in 2007 to share the costs of building a new shelter. Voters will likely be asked to fund the city’s portion as part of the next five-year bond package, Kamp said.

A bond election had been tentatively set for November, but council members decided in January to postpone it at least a year in light of the recession. The timing of the election is expected to be part of the council’s summer budget talks.

Mayor Mark Burroughs said the council could explore other funding options, such as grants or bonds that do not require voter approval, if needed to avoid delaying the project indefinitely.

Foundation leaders say they hope construction can begin in 2011.

The shelter would replace the city animal shelter at 300 Woodrow Lane, which officials say is too small to handle the more than 5,000 dogs and cats it sees each year. Plans call for a 22,242-square-foot facility — three times larger than the current shelter — to accommodate more dogs and cats and allow more adoption, housing and grooming space.

As part of the 2007 agreement, the foundation pledged to help fund construction of the shelter while the city promised to provide the land, oversee construction and manage and operate the facility.

Foundation leaders hope to raise money through grants and donations from businesses and individuals. They are planning a marketing drive and a series of public fundraisers in the fall.

“We’d like to get the schoolchildren involved,” Sherman said. “We’d like to have some grassroots effort and have the facility feel like it’s being embraced by the community. So that’s our plan.”

The all-volunteer shelter foundation formed in 2006, but Sherman said fundraising for a new shelter couldn’t start until city leaders endorsed a master plan, which happened in December. The fundraising drive started without fanfare in mid-May and is expected to end in fall 2010.

Money raised will go to fund adoption and care rooms inside the planned facility — something the current shelter lacks. Advocates for the new shelter see the additions as crucial to their attempt to transcend the current shelter’s negative image.

“The ultimate goal is to save more animals [from euthanasia],” Sherman said. “If we don’t have a good, user-friendly adoption center … then we can’t adopt out as many animals, and that’s proven by the situation we’re currently in. People do not like to go down to that shelter next to the [county] jail.”

The current shelter, built in 1979 and expanded in 1988, has been criticized for disease-spreading conditions, lack of staffing and high euthanasia rates. A 2005 Denton Humane Society questionnaire found that nearly nine in 10 respondents said the shelter marred the city’s image.

City officials have cited improvements in recent years but say the shelter remains overcrowded. It also sits in a flood-sensitive area, which makes expansion impractical, they say.

Officials with the police department, which oversees the shelter, have said the planned facility would look more like a business than a “pound,” reflecting its focus on adoption over euthanasia. It would include areas for people to “window shop” for pets, along with “get acquainted” rooms where people could play with animals before adopting them. The facility also would provide more space to separate sick dogs and cats from healthy ones, officials say.

The new shelter would sit on six acres bordering North Lakes Park. The land is part of a 20-acre tract the city bought from Rayzor Investments Ltd. for the shelter and a park expansion.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com .