With the flipping of dirt using a shovel, the North East SPCA are closer to building an animal shelter for the region.
The organization hosted a sod-turning for the $750,000 Harry and Eve Vickar Animal Shelter in Melfort June 13.
“It’s a great feeling to actually get to this point,” said Janine Kernaleguen, the SPCA’s president. “There’s a lot of years of work preparing to get here. There’s a lot of paperwork and a lot of things that aren’t so pretty in the starting of a non-profit charity and to actually get to this point, there’s a lot of man-hours.”
Rennie Harper, Nipawin’s mayor, was there to witness the sod-turning.
“In my experience with projects, when you turn the sod, it’s kind of like the dream comes true. You open your eyes and it’s a reality.”
The shelter will fulfil a need for the Northeast. Because the closest shelters are in Prince Albert and Humboldt, local veterinarians and municipalities are stuck with the burden of dealing with stray animals.
“This facility will not only improve animal welfare in all of our region, it will actually help our local people find pets from our local region,” Kernaleguen said. “It will actually keep our local dollars here, funding to support our animals in need right here.”
April Phillips, who’s serving as Melfort's deputy mayor, said she’s thrilled with the sod-turning.
“I’ve seen how hard this group has worked over the past few years,” she said. “I think they are very passionate about the need in the Northeast and we’re just excited to have been able to help and having the communities working together in the Northeast has also been very good.”
Harper said the shelter will benefit her town.
“It’s an area shelter. Nipawin is a partner in this and, as the [NESPCA] board said, it’s an opportunity for the animals in our whole entire area to get some services,” she said. “It’s a shelter not just for Melfort, it’s for Tisdale and Nipawin and all of that.”
Kernaleguen said she hopes construction will begin in the summer or early fall, as there is still work to be done to get local contractors involved and co-ordinated by the SPCA. The organization also has to raise more funds to complete the shelter and pay for its operation.
