For the last two and a half years Prince Albert's SPCA has been raising funds through their New Leash on Life campaign to build a new facility.
The current building has a number of things wrong with it that have made it essential for it to be replaced.
The building has asbestos's in the walls which could be harmful to staff and pets, it has little available space and requires a number of repairs in the kennels and throughout the building. It also has no ventilation system that can and has caused the SPCA’s many feline guests to become ill with respiratory illness.
“This building has served its purpose but its time has come and gone,” said Leanne Roberts, assistant manager for Prince Albert SPCA while walking through the facility. “All you have to do is look around and you can see the state of disrepair in this building.”
“Paint is coming off the walls in the dog kennels, the windows are wrecked, there is huge cracks in the walls,” She added.
“All the fencing is falling apart which is a danger to the dogs and also a safety issue to make sure they don’t get in with each other.”
The current SPCA building is approximately 50-years-old and can house approximately 29 dogs and 50 cats.
“A real issue here in this facility that has an impact on our cats is the lack of a high vac system like an air exchange system and they can get very sick here because the air doesn’t flow through,” said Debbie Lehner, manager of the SPCA.
“We have tried to address this by constructing outdoor cat structures to put them outside through the day because it is not a normal environment for them and they get stressed in a kennel and they develop upper respiratory illness.”
The new facility will have air vents to prevent this type of illness and is planned to be able to house up to 50 dogs and close to 80 or 90 cats.
However Lehner said the larger size of the facility probably still won’t prevent overcrowding at the new centre when it’s officially up and running.
“It doesn’t matter if we build small or big there is always going to be a need,” she said.
Currently the SPCA has a new dog or cat dropped off at their facility faster than they can manage to find an adoptive home for another.
“It’s never ending you could have a 30,000 square foot building or a 3 thousand square foot building it wouldn’t matter it would never address the over-population especially with cats,” said Lehner.
Lehner said right now they probably receive a visit from the city’s bi-law officers at least once a day to drop off an animal that was found wondering the city.
Suzanne Stubbs, acting bylaw officer for the city of Prince Albert said they had a total of 103 calls throughout the month of March concerning wondering pets. She said out of those calls a total of 21 dogs were impounded.
However Lehner said it will still be a huge relief once the new facility is built.
“We can move on and build a healthy and safe environment for our pets and a facility that the community can be very proud of,” said Lehner.
The new facility will be located at North Industrial Drive beside the Paw Print Inn and Central Bark off leash-park. The shelter is the third phase of the New Leash on Life campaign.
To read more about the New Leash on Life campaign and the SPCA’s current fundraising efforts that includes a radio-a-thon on Thursday, May 3 at Canadian Tire continue to check out paNOW for more stories throughout the week.
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