Structural damage at GSPCA kennels will cost £20k extra to fix

Thursday 07 June 2018

Major structural damage has been uncovered at the GSPCA during work to upgrade the kennels, meaning the cost of the project is going to skyrocket.

The repairs and replacement of the kennel floors has been taking place over the last few weeks, but when the floors were taken up, damage to the drains and the building's structure was uncovered.

The kennels were built in 2005 with a vinyl flooring, which has deteriorated to the point of needing replacement, and while the first two sections of the project have been competed, the last three sections now need the drains and flooring to be completely taken out and replaced. 

Steve Byrne, manager of the GSPCA, said the discovery will extend the work time by an additional month and also see the financial costs increased by around £20,000, with each of the kennels done so far costing around £2,000, slightly more than projected.

"It has been a huge challenge over the last month at the GSPCA as when we started the kennel refurbishments which were desperately needed, we expected the work to take two weeks and cost approximately £1450 per kennel," he said.

"The first 14 kennels although a little extra work was required, were fairly straight forward, but as we have investigated further under and around the drains to the last 21 kennels they have had to be completely ripped out and completely replaced.

"It was a good job we found the problems now as in a number of years it could have caused horrendous structural problems, but due to the huge amount of additional work each kennel will have cost approximately £2,000 each and we are appealing for any help with donations towards this unforeseen and much needed work."

The GSPCA has cared for thousands of dogs over the years. Mr Bryne (above) added: "All of those puppies were in our care for many months and without our kennels then we wouldn’t have been able to house them and find them new homes.

"To help with this essential appeal we have set up a Just Giving Page to help with the funds still needed for this work and every penny really helps and here it is - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gspcakennelfloors."