BC SPCA: The Williams Lake & District Branch is a disaster zone but the outlook is great!

The Williams Lake & District Branch is a disaster zone but the outlook is great!

February 23, 2010

Over 15 years ago the Williams Lake & District Branch was built by caring, local, volunteers. Over time, and much use, the building has begun to show its age and requires upgrades for the health and safety of the animals, staff and visitors.

Until recently, the current facility was in disrepair. The plumbing was corroded and rust stained, the ceiling tiles were easy to push out of place allowing cats a fast exit. The mice could easily travel from outside to inside the ceiling when the weather turned cold, and much of the insulation had been damaged. Esthetically, the building was not an inviting surrounding for staff, volunteers and the public wishing to spend time looking for a new family pet.

The building was also limited in the way animal health concerns were dealt with. Animals that enter the shelter must be considered potentially unhealthy and held in the only available room. We call this room the isolation/incoming room, in fact it is both, and healthy cats are at risk of contamination from sick animals.

But now the long awaited renovations have begun!!

We have begun phase 1 of the work. The dirty, unsanitary job of removing the dropped ceiling and the mice poop laden insulation was the first thing done. Next the workmen erected new walls and drywall was everywhere! Yippeeee we now have the beginnings of a solid ceiling. No more cats dropping onto your lap when you least expect it!

The side storage area is now showing signs of becoming 3 separate rooms, an incoming room, an exam room and a completely separate, with its own ventilation system, isolation room. We have been waiting forever to have these three separate areas! The unfinished "garage" as I called it, always accumulating stuff and never organized, is now walled in with new windows installed and even a door! The concrete floor is to be poured this afternoon and the men have spent the morning leveling the gravel. Once the floor is laid, this area will also be divided into a cat communal and a meeting room.

As I write this we are experiencing a lull as we wait for the painters to come in and base coat everything. Calm is good…

Stay tuned for the next phase of renovations!

If you would like to support the Williams Lake & District Branch and the homeless animals in your community, please donate today.

The BC SPCA is a non-profit organization funded primarily by public donations. Our mission is to prevent cruelty and to promote the welfare of animals through a wide range of services, including cruelty investigations, emergency rescue and treatment, sheltering and adoption of homeless and abused animals, humane education, advocacy, farm animal welfare, spay/neuter programs, and wildlife rescue and rehabilitation.