Richmond’s refurbished animal shelter on No. 5 Road is almost ready to welcome dogs, cats and other lost or abandoned animals.
The Richmond Community Animal Shelter, at 12071 No. 5 Rd., is expected to open by the end of March with the BC SPCA taking over the new facility, previously run by the Regional Animal Protection Society (RAPS).
BC SPCA will close its smaller facility on Steveston Highway at the end of February, in anticipation of moving into the refurbished animal shelter, which has been expanded by 1,600 square feet.
The City of Richmond contracted its animal services to BC SPCA last year as it started to rebuild the animal shelter on No. 5 Road.
“We began working with the city as providers of their animal control services more than a year ago, and we are thrilled to be building on this successful partnership with the operations of this new shelter,” said Parm Takhar, BC SPCA chief operations officer, in a media statement.
The Richmond Animal Shelter, previously run by RAPS, integrated the previous 40-year-old shelter structure into the new one with a budget of $8 million. According to the city in the fall, construction was under budget.
The new shelter will be 1,600 square feet larger than the old one, totalling 6,180 square feet.
It will have room for at least 17 dogs, 40 cats, eight rabbits, which were previously kept outdoors, and six other animals.
“The Education and Adoption Centre has been a wonderful venture, providing an SPCA presence in Richmond that brought hundreds of adoptable animals together with their new families each year,” said Takhar, adding the society’s millionth animal was adopted at the Richmond location in 2015.
-with files from Maria Rantanen
