A Modern Animal Commissary
at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park
For nearly half a century, Northwest Trek Wildlife Park has cared for animals native to the Pacific Northwest, from massive bison and moose to tiny frogs and newts. As we’ve continued to enhance the care we provide our animals, we’ve outgrown our current facilities for animal food storage and preparation.
A new, modern Animal Commissary is vital to providing exceptional care for all our animals – now and in the future.
Our Current Challenges
- Our animal food storage/preparation areas are scattered throughout the wildlife park – a testament to our team’s ingenuity in maximizing all available space.
- Our dry animal food is stored more than a mile from where our keepers prepare animal meals.
- Our kitchen is overcrowded and too small to meet the needs of our staff and animals.
- Our walk-in freezer, which stores frozen fish, meat, and bones, is regularly full.
- We refrigerate produce, thaw meat, and store prepared food in multiple rooms.
- Our keepers handle food items several times, moving them from bulk storage to thawing to diet preparation. They also unload deliveries of grain and frozen meat by hand – one case and one bag at a time.
A More Efficient and Modern Animal Commissary
- A modern Animal Commissary will centralize our food storage and preparation in one building and streamline our operations. The floorplan is designed for an efficient workflow and is adaptable as our needs evolve.
- A new walk-in freezer will be four times bigger than our current one, allowing us to store more animal food with improved organization. And larger, less frequent frozen meat deliveries will reduce our costs and carbon footprint.
- A new walk-in cooler will allow our keepers to thaw frozen food more efficiently, better organize fresh produce, and prepare animal diets in advance.
- We’ll be able to receive animal food deliveries on full pallets, saving significant time and money.
- New kitchen and laundry appliances will add critical functionality to our operations. And stainless-steel work surfaces will be easy to clean, disinfect and maintain.
- Most importantly, our keepers will spend less time preparing animal meals and more time caring for the animals who call Northwest Trek home.
Support Our New Animal Commissary
We will be hosting a dinner and auction in support of the new wildlife commissary. Join us at Farm 12 in Puyallup!