"We should be in by December or January." Elly Monfett, executive director of the Saugerties Animal Shelter, said that in June at the launch party for this year's street art, according to Hudson Valley One. She was standing among 36 freshly painted fiberglass dogs. The dogs were there because of the building she was describing.

Eight weeks later, shelter manager Morgan Bach gave Hudson Valley One a revised date: "So the projected completion date would be January 2027, and hopefully we would be moving in shortly after that." At that point the shelter was about $2 million short of its goal.

The dogs go up for auction on Sunday, October 25, at SPAF, 169 Ulster Avenue. Most years, this auction closes out a summer art show. This year it works more like a construction fundraiser with a gavel.

Every Theme Has Had a Hometown Reason

The Chamber of Commerce has run this sidewalk series every summer since 2009. Each year's subject has tied back to something specific about the town. Beth Murphy, then in economic development, and Nancy Campbell of the Town Board started the series as part of New York State's Quadricentennial celebration. They chose horses because the HITS horse shows had come to Saugerties in 2004. Later themes kept the same local logic:

• 2009, 2010 and 2023: standing horses, a nod to HITS
• 2022: Rocky the Owl. Rocky was the tiny saw-whet owl found in the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in 2020, and she recovered at the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties.
• 2024: hippie buses, for the 30th anniversary of Woodstock '94
• 2025: dogs, "with the Saugerties Animal Shelter in mind"

Two-year runs are normal here. Lighthouses filled the sidewalks in 2011, 2013 and 2014. Sailboats ran in 2018 and 2019, and butterflies in 2020 and 2021. This run is tied to a building with a budget. The Chamber's auction page says the theme was chosen "to honor and support the Town of Saugerties Animal Shelter and recent groundbreaking of their new, and much needed shelter building." The beneficiary rotates from year to year. The 2024 bus auction supported the Hudson Valley National Center for Veteran Reintegration. The shelter is now the beneficiary for the second year in a row.

What the Building Is Up Against

Ground was broken in October 2024. Planning started before COVID-19, when the original estimate was $1.8 million. By August 2026 the estimate was about $5 million, and the project was 50 to 60 percent funded, mostly through donations and grants. "We had to cut a lot of stuff, unfortunately," Bach told the paper. "So that's just the base building. No bells and whistles."

Progress has come in pieces. In June, Monfett said the well, septic, electric and driveway were in, and that structural insulated panels were due to ship June 17. By early August, most of the prefabricated parts had arrived, but the plumbing and utilities that run under the floor were still pending. No later public construction update has surfaced since.

The building it will replace is the former Saugerties Highway Department building on the transfer station grounds. It has served as the shelter for about 40 years. A shelter supporter described it to Hudson Valley One as essentially two rooms, one for dogs and one for cats. The open area where staff greet the public and orient volunteers has a footprint "about the size of a minivan." The new plans add space for injured and orphaned wildlife. A covered outdoor classroom has been proposed but isn't in the current budget.

Set that $2 million gap next to the auction's track record. On the archived page for the 2025 dog auction, the top winning price was $3,000, for "Hudson River Dog." The 2025 campaign page shows $31,650 from 60 supporters, and that total was split four ways among the artists, the Chamber, the shelter and a student scholarship. In 2023, Hudson Valley One reported that the top horse went for $1,500. A single auction won't close the gap. It's one of several steady efforts. Others include engraved paving bricks for the new front entrance, priced from $100 to $200, and room-naming gifts. All summer, the shelter also set up every other Thursday in the beer garden at Colony Woodstock.

What's Actually Going Under the Gavel

This year's dogs are seated. Last year's were standing. They went up later than usual because, as Chamber vice-chair Peggy Schwartz told Hudson Valley One, "the fabricator by mistake made the wrong form, which had nothing to do with dogs." Village DPW crews installed the finished pieces the day after the June 7 launch at Stone Pony Catering. Schwartz described the trip: "They put them on a flatbed – it's like a parade."

A few of the 36 are worth knowing by name before you bid:

1. Sherlock Bones by Sara Buchter and Kerry Buchter wears a plaid deerstalker cap and a fabric cape coated with Mod Podge. A pipe, a magnifying glass and an Arthur Conan Doyle paperback sit at its feet.
2. Dog Tired by Tiffany Incorvaia comes in pajamas, curlers and bunny slippers, with a newspaper and a mug of coffee.
3. Well-Trained Dog by Cynthia Starr presides over a model railroad layout in a conductor's cap, with a whistle and a pocketwatch.
4. King Mutt by Rachel Staby wears a pharaonic headdress, with rubber snakes curled around its front paws.
5. The Secret Life of Timber Tigers by Meredith Morabito turns the dog's body into a chipmunk burrow, with a tree crown growing from its head.
6. DogWood by Cody Bisignano has a coat mottled like bark, bracket fungus and a patch of ferns.

Texture is the other story this year. Jesse Bidwell's Autumn is covered in a mosaic of leaves. Wags to Riches by Brooke Hanenberg and Jill Michaels has a rough white stucco finish. Jerelynn Mason's Rags is layered in fabric scraps, lace and rickrack, and Rosemary Chase's Rusty pairs a nubbly gold sweater with glossy celadon skin. The Town's events page credits another, Smokey, to William B. Kimble.

How October 25 Works

• Where: SPAF, 169 Ulster Avenue
• When: The Chamber's ticket page lists 2:30 p.m. The Town calendar lists 3 to 5 p.m. Arriving by 2:30 covers both.
• Tickets: $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Advance tickets are sold at Town & Country Liquors and Smith Hardware.
• Format: Live and online bidding, with light fare and drinks. Bob Siracusnao and Ray Tucker are the auctioneers.
• Where the money goes: The artists, the Chamber's community events, the Town of Saugerties Animal Shelter, and a scholarship for a graduating Saugerties High School student

All summer, each plinth carried a QR code linking to the Chamber's Barkin' Around Saugerties page, where bids can be placed. At the end of each season, the set goes to new owners at the auction, and winning bidders take their sculptures home. If you'd rather give to the building directly, the Saugerties Animal Welfare Fund manages the capital campaign, and saugertiesanimalshelter.com handles bricks and naming gifts.

Around the Village Between Now and December

The auction is the biggest date on the Saugerties calendar this month, but not the only one. On Wednesday, October 14, Nic Panken plays The Local at 16 John Street, according to Hudson Valley One's October event guide. Margaux Bar opened in late August at 83 Partition Street. Chronogram reports it's a cocktail bar with small bites from owner Sarah Viator, closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Out on Route 9W, Lox of Bagels at 3103 has passed from Barb and John Farcher to Jeromy Rivera and Stephanie Siracusano. They told Hudson Valley One they plan to keep the shop's character.

Holiday in the Village falls on the first Sunday of December, which is December 6 this year. It brings carriage rides, entertainment and Santa at the Kiersted House Dutch Barn. The Town says details usually go up on its events page closer to the date. If the January 2027 projection holds, the new shelter building would be finished about a month after that.

If one of these dogs comes home with you, where it ends up matters. A front walk, a porch corner or a spot in the garden each needs different planning. At The Machree Group, our design and staging team works on exactly those questions for Saugerties homes, and we're happy to help you find the right place for a new fiberglass resident. Let's connect and start your Hudson Valley project.