ANCHORAGE — The Alaska Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will soon be opening its doors at a new facility in south Anchorage.
The shelter, which was purchased two years ago, opens Oct. 24 and will be able to house up to 20 cats and 10 dogs as well as a litter of puppies, according to The Alaska Dispatch News.
The nonprofit plans to provide shelter and find homes for the most at-risk cats and dogs, especially those found in rural areas that lack access to proper shelters and veterinarians. The SPCA has teamed up with two western Alaska communities, Dillingham and Nome.
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has its finish line in Nome, but the community remains without a veterinarian or animal control unit.
“No animal control and no vet — that’s a problem,” SPCA executive director Kay Ashton said. “We will be able to extend services to those areas.”
In Dillingham, the community does have both a veterinarian and animal care and control officer, but many of the unclaimed animals end up euthanized.
Ashton hopes that animals will be saved by coming to the new Anchorage facility.
The shelter could also end up taking overflow from other facilities in southcentral Alaska. But with the number of stray cats and dogs on the decline the past few years, Ashton does not anticipate the shelter having to do so.
The SPCA closed down its previous shelter three years ago due to safety hazards in the deteriorating building. Work has been done on the new facility ever since it was purchased two years ago.
Ashton did not immediately know how much money had been spent on the new shelter, but she said kennels alone cost $45,000. The facility has six cat isolation kennels, as well as a separate dog room with its own custom kennels.
