Moving day is approaching for the animals at the New Westminster Animal Shelter who have yet to find their forever homes.

The city’s new animal shelter and tow yard is under construction at 420 Boyne St. in Queensborough.

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Aaron Hilgerdenaar, supervisor of parking and animal services, said the new animal shelter is expected to open this October or November, with the exact date to be determined on final inspections and correction of any noted deficiencies.

“Animals in our care will benefit from the new, more advanced facility in many ways. Animals will have more space, a quieter environment, less exposure to other species, which can be stressful, and less chance of exposure to sick animals,” he said. “The new shelter will have separate air intake systems and isolation rooms for sick animals.”

Hilgerdenaar said it’s hard to say how many animals the shelter will accommodate as it’s not just about capacity but also about capacity for caring for the animals.

“Even if there is physical space we can only intake what we are able to properly care for with animal care staff,” he said. “There will be space for 15 dogs based on the number of kennels in the plans but it is harder to predict the capacity for cats and small animals at this point; this will be dependent on the setup of cat condos and small animal spaces.”

Along with the animals, Hilgerdenaar is confident the public will like the brand new facility.

“The facility will be visitor-friendly with more space for people to view the adoptable animals, which we anticipate will result in more frequent and efficient adoptions,” he said. “In the last three years we averaged 164 adoptions and 360 animals in our care on an annual basis (stray, impound, adoption etc.).”

In 2015, the city established an animal shelter task force to consider the best location for a new animal shelter and tow yard.

According to Hilgerdenaar, the current building is outdated and too small to service the growing city pet population. He said the shelter was built at a time when animal stays in the shelter were short, but long-term stays are more common today.

“Additionally, the current setup is not conducive to behavioral rehabilitation, disease containment and properly housing the animals that we care for,” he said. “The city values best practices in animal welfare, and ensuring top-tier care was something deemed important to invest in.”

Terry Atherton, the city’s manager of civic buildings and properties, said final project budget is $10.32 million. He said the cost rose from what was initially projected because of a number of projects being tendered at the same time in the Metro Vancouver area in 2018.

Colleen Ponzini, the city’s director of finance, said the animal shelter and tow yard project was first contemplated in the city’s 2015 to 2019 financial plan at $7.8 million, but was then increased to $8.6 million in the 2018 to 2022 financial plan, as the project details were refined. Due to the market conditions, she said the budget was raised to $10.3 million in the 2019 to 2023 financial plan.

While the city is currently focusing its efforts on the logistics of transferring operations, Hilgerdenaar said it plans on holding a ceremony or community event after the facility is up and running. Details will be announced by the city and on the New Westminster Animal Services’ Facebook page.