Interim no more: Flamion named head of DuPage County’s expanded animal shelter

It’s a momentous week for Laura Flamion and homeless pets in DuPage County.

The county’s animal shelter is in the homestretch of a major construction project. The nonprofit DuPage Animal Friends will host their fundraising gala, “Raise the Woof,” this Friday. And Flamion has officially shed the “interim” from her title.

County board members on Tuesday approved her appointment as administrator of animal services, though she’s long been an advocate for a menagerie of dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and birds that end up at the shelter.

“I’m very honored. This place means a lot to me,” Flamion said. “I’ve dedicated a lot of time, and it’s my work family. I really care about the people that are here, the staff, the volunteers.”

She’s dedicated numerous hours to the recent expansion of the shelter. The Wheaton facility roughly doubled in size with a 10,000-square-foot addition. The new main lobby, with its high ceilings, is bright and airy. A detached “real-life room” is designed to give dogs a break from kennels and reduce stress.

“I think the shelter expansion is a really big milestone, because before I was here, I had seen a number of iterations for plans to expand the shelter, even in my role as a volunteer here and when I used to be a board member for DuPage Animal Friends,” Flamion said. “And to be a part of this expansion is really meaningful, because it’s been something that we’ve dreamed of for a very long time.”

The shelter also will be revealing a new medical suite in the original building.

“We are in the homestretch. We expect to be completed in the next few weeks and then hope to get our occupancy permit. It’s a beautiful space,” Flamion said.

Her vision is to “maybe start off providing some low-cost medical services to our rescue partners in the community,” Flamion said, “as we then transition to a plan where we can maybe offer low-cost medical services” for people considering surrendering their pet because they can’t afford that care.

The shelter also is bringing back summer camp programming for kids after taking a long break from it, Flamion said.

“I think the first priority is we need to start getting a little bit more settled into the new space. We want to open up additional volunteer opportunities,” she said. “We want to start opening back up to the public with some regular adoption hours.”

Flamion was appointed as interim administrator of animal services in 2024. She has worked for the department — formerly called DuPage County Animal Care and Control — for about 7⅟₂ years.

“We went through a whole rebranding. In the last seven and a half years, we’ve just done such an amazing amount of work here to really be what I think is a model animal control-type agency in the state of Illinois,” she said.

County board member Brian Krajewski, chair of DuPage’s animal services committee, called Flamion “the glue that keeps everybody together over there. The staff all really likes her. She does a very good job mentoring,” he added.

He also said Flamion with her team was able to build the shelter’s foster program. It’s an open-admission shelter. Already this year, it’s accepted ducks and a goat.

“Our agency takes in all animals, regardless of their medical condition, their health, their behavior, because people need to have an option,” Flamion said. “And we appreciate everything our humane societies do and our rescue partners, but at the end of the day, we are the ones responsible for being that safety net … when there’s no other choices.”

Dr. Kristin Tvrdik also officially joined the shelter team earlier this year as the new deputy administrator veterinarian. Flamion refers to her for any medical issues.

The shelter is planning for a grand opening in June.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250422/news/interim-no-more-flamion-named-head-of-dupage-countys-expanded-animal-shelter/