Prince George is one of four communities getting a combined $12 million to help build BC SPCA shelter replacements along with Vancouver, Duncan, and Fort St. John.
The province is providing the funding and said the facilities in the selected communities are either closed or outdated, and are neither designed nor equipped to provide modern care for animals.
Prince George specifically will receive $3 million to develop a new facility that will also provide regional services for the Cariboo and northern B.C.
It is estimated the four facilities will offer care to thousands of companion pets per year in B.C., ranging from cats and dogs, to birds, rabbits and rodents.
The North Cariboo SPCA has been looking to move from its current location at Lansdowne Road since 2016 to a proposed site west of the Exhibition Grounds on 18th Avenue and Foothills Boulevard.
The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations signed a 30-year lease on 1.18 hectares of Crown land for the facility.
The original plan was to build a 10,000-square foot community animal and education centre, a 3,000-square foot barn for horses next to a paddock that will be used for daily exercise, and a 26-stall parking lot.
In 2017, the project also received $1.5-million in funding from the provincial government.
The city owns the SPCA's current facility on Lansdowne Road, which has been criticized for its out-of-the-way location.
"Our new Prince George facility will become an important regional hub. It will be our primary regional emergency response centre and a transfer hub for moving animals in our care to get veterinary treatment and specialized behaviour rehabilitation when not locally available,” said Colby O'Flynn, senior manager, North Cariboo Animal Care Services, BC SPCA.
"We greatly appreciate this significant support from the province for these four communities where our aging facilities are making the care and protection of vulnerable animals increasingly difficult," said Marcie Moriarty, chief of protection and outreach services, BC SPCA.
"Our day-to-day animal care and protection services are primarily funded by generous individual donors across B.C., so having the province step forward to help with these extraordinary costs will make a tremendous difference."
