If funds keep coming in at their current rate, Fulton's stray animals will have a new shelter by this time next year.
As donations continue to roll in, the city's new animal shelter initiative has raised $236,562 in donations and pledges.
That number, two years in the earning, puts the initiative within $20,000 of its $250,000 goal.
Mayor LeRoy Benton said that he has not yet set a date ahead of having the last of the funds in hand, but he is confident ground will be broken on the project "after the first of the year, the way this is going."
"I think we're doing pretty well," he said. "This past month we received a couple of donations, one for $5,000 and one pledge of $40,000, so we're really excited."
The contributions, from the Laurie family and the Samuel and Daisy Grabb estate respectively, were one of several larger-end pledges or donations in recent months to bring the shelter fund up from the $189,935 the city reported in its September newsletter.
$162,500 Benton reported the city had raised by March 2013 in a letter to the Fulton Sun published March 26.