The Battlefords Humane Society celebrated breaking ground on a facility for training, grooming and housing animals. (submitted/Dave & Darline Gubbe)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Phase 1

Construction begins on Battlefords Humane Society facility

May 17, 2022 | 5:00 AM

The building phase is underway for the Battlefords Humane Society.

The animal shelter’s efforts to create a boarding, grooming and training facility officially broke ground on Monday to kickoff construction work. Addressing housing and service options, the new building on the north side of the city is expected to reach completion in the fall.

Shelter Coordinator Michelle Spark said it was a relief to reach this point in the campaign. This is meant as an addition to construction on a brand new facility that is the overarching focus of their $1.5 million capital campaign that launched last fall.

“It’s good that we’re finally getting starting,” Spark said. “We’re still facing the challenge of raising enough money for the rest of the project, so we still need support from the community, but definitely, very exciting.”

In addition to the amount of space and quality of housing that will improve with the new facility, Spark said there’s also services they weren’t able to provide until this point. With dogs in particular, there’s grooming, training and day care services they can offer.

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“Gives us the opportunity give our community the full package when they adopt a dog from us,” Spark said.

One of the most prominent examples is dealing with dogs suffering from anxiety, especially separation anxiety. Spark said these types of dogs are one of the hardest animals in the shelter to get adopted.

“When we can offer the doggy day care and you adopt a dog with separation anxiety, you can bring it to the day care when you’re at work, so it’s not home alone,” she said. “So, this gives those dogs a fighting chance.”

Spark said they’re hoping the building will be up by October/November and have it full of animals by December, barring no complications.

“Experience tells us that you run into glitches and things go longer than expected,” she said. “It would be nice to be open by September, but we’re optimistic that by October/November we’ll be in there.”

Fundraising for Phase 2, the replacement facility, is still underway. More information on upcoming events is available online.

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW