The City of Fulton has been awarded a 2015 Missouri Municipal League Innovation Award for the New Fulton Animal Shelter Initiative. The project’s unique funding approach is what allowed the City to claim the prestigious honor.

On February 2, 2012, Mayor LeRoy Benton announced the plan to fund a new shelter through private donations. A committee was created to help reach out to donors and commemorative bricks and t-shirts were sold to help generate interest in the project. After two years of fundraising, enough money was raised to begin construction. Then on May 15, 2015, the Sam and Daisy Grabb Animal Shelter opened its doors. The new shelter is four times larger than the old one and features separate quarantine rooms for dogs and cats, a laboratory and a bonding room.

The Missouri Municipal League is an independent, non-profit organization that aims to strengthen cities through unity and cooperation. They began handing out the Innovation Awards in 2006 to showcase municipal projects that demonstrate new approaches for solving municipal challenges.