Furever Homes officials are looking at ways to recover from the loss of their animal shelter in Elliot Lake’s south industrial park and to establish an improved or new facility to deal with animal rescues.
The former Society for Animals (SAD) (now renamed (Furever Homes and Lodging) group was forced to close its facility at 33 Perini Late in late September after the building was found in need of serious repair to bring it up to building code. Since the closure, the board has been looking at ways to regroup and has launched several fundraisers, managed to get a three-year lease on a facility in the north industrial park at 37 Timber Road (once the home of the Northern Power Sport business) and approached city council to see whether it would be interested in a partnership to find a solution.
Furever treasurer Tammy Van Roon made the presentation to council at its regular meeting Monday evening with an update on where the board is in its efforts to come up with a solution.
Van Roon noted the group’s success in securing a new lease agreement at 37 Timber Road.
“This location allows us the opportunity to continue operations at a reduced capacity and gives us time to plan for our new future,” she said. “The leased premises are significantly smaller than our location on Perini Road which will impact our overall income.”
By contrast, Perini provided 3,000 square feet of space, five cat rooms, 30 kennels, eight kennels for dog isolation space and seven isolation spaces for cats. The Timber Road location is 1,500 square feet with two cat rooms and 10 kennels.
The leased facility has no isolation space which is required for new surrenders mandated for a 10-day isolation period before integration with other animals in its care. To offset the shortfall the organization is looking for a donation of two motor homes which will be renovated with kennels and heat to keep surrenders safe and warm.
A significant source of income is from boarding animals and providing daycare
Van Roon said that last year from May to September, up until the closure at Perini, there were 1,314 dogs boarded, daycare was provided for 537 animals and 63 pets were adopted out to “loving homes.”
“Our new location will reduce our capacity by approximately 60 per cent,” Van Roon said.
Money is also raised through fundraising efforts on the Adopt-A-Kennel program, GoFundMe, online auctions, and other activities through its social media pages. As well the group’s second-hand store staffed by volunteers provides funding through customer purchases.
The group is in the process of preparing its budget for the next year and deciding on its other options to operate including selling the Perini facility and reaching a partnership agreement with the city for a new facility shared with the city’s dog pound another facility in need of repair.
Furever received support from many councillors, but a request for a speedy agreement on a partnership may take time because Elliot Lake is undertaking talks on its strategic planning. CAO Daniel Gagnon suggested talks involving a partnership could get underway sooner and which council agreed.
The Furver board is also interested in having talks with surrounding municipalities on partnerships for facilities and services, something that has been put on hold until its plans for the coming year were finalized. They are hoping to open the new leased facility by April or May.