The Councillor for Animal Protection, Carmen Morate, has said that the preliminary draft of the municipal budget for 2017 will include an investment of 350,000 euros, which will be used to carry out improvement work and the expansion of the Municipal Animal Shelter.
The works would extend the area up to 3,150 square meters, adding adjacent parcels of land that now occupy the municipal cars pound.
The councillor said that the project will include new accommodation for the temporary shelter of small animals, also a space for horses, as well as an aviary for birds. Morate said that there is already a project drafted, but is currently being modified to adapt it to additional needs that are now being considered.
Morate also made statement of the activity of the Municipal Shelter during 2016, in which, she said, that over 500 animals have been castrated, including 200 as a result of a subsidy received from the Diputación de Alicante.
There were more than 400 animals received in the shelter, many of them chipped, which enabled them to be returned to their owners, however, 3 puppies had to be put down after an outbreak of parvovirus that affected many of the animals during the summer.
Councillor Morate said that the shelter is currently housing 29 dogs and 23 cats. In an appeal to the public she asked, particularly at this time of the year, that people are responsible toward their pets, saying that they are not toys just to be given and quickly forgotten.
She added that and that “it is not necessary to spend money on purchasing animals from pet stores as there are currently so many available in the municipal shelter, even those considered as luxury breeds”.
