Hinton and District SPCA secure $200,000 in funds

A local SPCA has managed to sniff out some more grant money.

The Hinton and District SPCA received $200,000 in grant money from the province’s major community facility program, bringing their new facility one step closer to reality.

The money will help pay for phase 2 of the Hinton and District SPCA Animal Centre, which will install electrical systems, drywall, heating and insulation at the new shelter. The exterior walls of the building have already been erected, and the facility is still collecting donations to pay for the new building.

 The new Hinton and district SPCA Animal Centre will cost about $1.2 million to complete. The state-of-the-art 8,000 square foot facility will increase the centre’s capacity, according to SPCA officials.

To date the SPCA has raised more than $550,000 for the project, after breaking ground in 2008. However they still don’t have enough money to finish the building. 

SPCA Vice president Cathy Thomas said the centre is exploring a number of options to help finish the building, including more grant applications, soliciting more donations or securing a loan.

“In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need (a loan),” Thomas said. The centre is selling off ‘square paws’ in memoriam of pets to help pay for the centre, and has received personal donations ranging from $10 to $20,000.

The Town of Hinton has donated $225,000 in land to the new centre, Thomas said, and several Jasper businesses have contributed to the centre’s construction. The community of Grand Cache has also donated $10,000 to the new SPCA.

The Hinton and District SPCA is the only animal shelter between Edmonton and Kamloops.

Thomas is hoping for a Christmas opening for the new facility, however she said the centre needs at least another $300,000 to finish the building.

President Debi Morin-Huber said the centre will be different than many SPCAs, as it will house commercial space on top of regular SPCA operations.

The new centre will more than double the capacity for the organization to house dogs. Currently, the shelter is capable of housing 40 cats and nine SPCA dogs. The new centre will be capable of housing 23 SPCA dogs, which Morin-Huber said is needed.

“We could fill it up tomorrow,” Morin-Huber said.

The new centre will also house a boarding facility. About a quarter of the building will be dedicated to commercial space, such as a grooming centre and retail space in an effort to offset the centre’s expenses. The Hinton SPCA consulted with a San Diego animal shelter expert, who told them to include private enterprise into the centre.

“He told us to get our head out of the sand and start running it like a business, not like a begging shelter,” Morin-Huber said.

The new centre will also isolate SPCA dogs from dogs kept in the private kennel. An air exchange system will be used to isolate airborne illnesses, such as kennel cough.

“The SPCA dogs won’t breathe the same air as the other dogs,” Morin-Huber said.

Morin-Huber is a little more optimistic about opening dates, however she also recognizes funding is the largest hurdle.

‘We’d like to be in by the Fall, but we don’t have the money,” Morin-Huber said.