(file photo CHAT NEWS Today)

By Tiffany Goodwein

APARC moving to new home

Sep 11, 2021 | 6:40 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The city’s animal pound will be moving to a much larger facility.

Council unanimously approved the purchase of a building on the city’s airport property at its Tuesday meeting.

The building will be dismantled and rebuilt to house the new pound at a location near the airport on Gershaw Drive.

A total of $960,000 has been allocated towards the project to acquire and relocate the building to Gershaw Drive. The funds will also go towards building an addition to the building at the relocated space and will be funded through the infrastructure reserve and community capital.

The Alberta Pound and Rescue Centre (APARC) currently holds the contract for animal pound services. According to the city staff report, the current facility on South Railway is in need of heating and ventilation upgrades in order to meet current animal shelter standards, and the facility it is too small.

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According to city staff, the building can comfortably accommodate up to 13 dogs and 50 cats at one time. In 2019, APARC reported impounding 1,253 cats and 440 dogs, that year and the number of pets they help continues to grow.

The current facility on South Railway was purchased back in 2015 for a total cost of $463,980. Mayor Ted Clugston defended the decision to purchase the smaller building, knowing that there would be space, and ventilation issues at the Tuesday council meeting.

“We literally had no time,” Clugston said.

“The SPCA no longer wanted to do pound services, and we had to find a place right away because we can’t have animals running around in the streets”.

It’s unknown when APARC will move into their new facility. But the building has to be moved from the airport by Sept. 30.