A special birthday gift to a spouse ends up benefitting thousands of animals served by the no-kill shelter of the Arizona Animal Welfare League. From Phoenix, KJZZ’s Lynn Kelly reports.

A puppy takes advantage of shelter services at the Sonia Breslow Adoption Center. (Photo courtesy of Kassy Moon - AAWL/SPCA)
The Sonia Breslow Adoption Center, a no-kill shelter run by the Arizona Animal Welfare League. (Photo courtesy of Kassy Moon - AAWL/SPCA)

LYNN KELLY: Animal Welfare League spokeswoman Judith Gardner says a mystery donor gave the league $2 million to build a new no-kill shelter in honor of his wife’s birthday.

JUDITH GARDNER: He and I talked and he told me at the time that his wife’s 60^th birthday was going to be in March 2012 and he wanted to think of something extremely special that she would never forget as a birthday gift.

KELLY: So on her birthday Saturday night, the new shelter’s name was unveiled. John Brelow, who formerly owned the Phoenix Coyotes, surprised his wife with the new pet adoption facility, named the Sonia Breslow Adoption Center. Gardner says the old shelter was built in the 1980s and was at capacity. The new center will house even more adoptable animals while the old space can reopen as a low-cost veterinary clinic.