GSPCA appeals for £20,000 to pay for kennel floor work
THE GSPCA is appealing for a further £20,000 to complete refurbishment of the shelter’s kennels after it was found that extensive damage had been done to the concrete underneath the existing floor.
Of the original estimate of £45,000 to replace the badly cracked and waterlogged vinyl flooring, around £25,000 has already been raised.
Work began on 14 May, undertaken by a UK firm John Lord, and it was found that the concrete beneath would need to be removed partially because of the faulty drainage system.
Although some of the buildings at the centre have been in use since the 1960s, the kennels were last refurbished in 2005.
‘The kennels are washed every day, twice a day, and the water has been seeping beneath. We never realised the extent of the work,’ said GSPCA manager Steve Byrne.
The new estimate for the job is £65,000, accounting for the extra pallets of material and labour costs needed to complete the job.
Volunteers and Back To Work scheme workers have been working free of charge to assist with the project and workers from John Lord have also been working over the weekends.
The new floor is a solid waterproof structure eliminating the seams and joins which caused the problem to occur with the old flooring.
‘At the GSPCA thousands of dogs come through our care each year from those cruelly treated to those attending our dog training classes, strays to those on their holidays, those rescued from emergency situations to those looking for new homes and this new flooring will help all of these dogs each year and many more.
‘The biggest case in recent years was that of the 25 Slovakian puppies seized at the port, which if they hadn’t have been stopped then it is likely that some may well have died and all were suffering during their journey due to a lack of food, water and care,’ he said.
Some of the kennels have already been completed, but there are still several waiting for work to be finished and Mr Byrne said he did not want to turn dogs away because of the issue.
‘We already have a waiting list now and we are starting to get more people who want to rehome their dogs.
‘The job should be finished by the middle of next week, but we don’t know how we’re going to pay for it,’ he said.
n Donations can be made on the Just Giving page, https://bit.ly/2JJi0KL.
