Kamloops SPCA finally unveils plans for a new site

The staff at the SPCA in Kamloops havebeen working in a modified motorcycle shop for the last thirty years. Now, they finally have a new specially-designed location that will meet the needs of both the animals and the employees.

"It really doesn't seem real," said Kamloops manager of community development Kevin Watt on Daybreak Kamloops with guest host Doug Herbert.

"When you walk in every day and you see the conditions of the shelter after over 30 years of it being run down to know the high-tech, state-of-the-art animal facility we're going to have in just two years is amazing to us."

The plans for a new shelter site have just been unveiled after decades of discussion.

The new building will be just over 900 square metres in size and will include a spay/neuter clinic, new dog apartments and even outdoor patios for cats or "catios."

This marks a big improvement over the current building.

"It's just not working anymore," said Watt. "When it snows, we need to shovel the roof. When it rains, we need to put out a bucket."

"Adream come true'

Staff at thesite are also looking forward to the move.

Kristy Demidoss has been working as an animal care attendant in Kamloops for nearly five years. She said having a new building will make a huge difference to the animals they take in.

"You're going to have happier animals, so animals that will be easier to adopt," she said.

"It's a dream come true. It's just more space. We're going to be able to more effectively help animals in the Kamloops and surrounding community."

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The Kamloops SPCA still needs to fundraise $360,000 to pay for the $4.8 million needed for the building. Watt said he's confident the Kamloops community will raise that money before the project is complete.

"This is going to be it for us for a very long time, so we want to make sure what we build is exactly what it needs to be," said Watt.

"We don't want to come back to the community after it's built and say we need to raise more money to fix our errors."

Construction of the new building and outdoor site on TranquilleRoad will likely start by the summer of 2017 with construction complete the following year.

With files from CBC Radio One'sDaybreakKamloops

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