New SPCA officially opens its doors
NORTH UNION TWP. – More than a year and a half after a fire heavily damaged its building and killed 34 dogs and cats, the Fayette Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals held a grand reopening Wednesday to showcase its new state-of-the-art shelter. The March 31, 2004, fire burned through the roof and forced the 93-year-old SPCA to house the surviving dogs and cats in its garage and a few other undamaged areas in the building until repairs were made, but the shelter continued to operate.
“We never closed,” shelter manager Olinda Beatty said, “just went through some hard times.”
Using a $50,000 grant from the Scaife Foundation, proceeds from the insurance on the building on Rankin Airshaft Road and a bank loan, more than $200,000 was spent fixing the shelter and making improvements that exceed state requirements, said Bob Cerjanec, SPCA board president.
Central air conditioning, fans and security cameras have been installed, but are not required, Beatty said.
Rick L. Burd, enforcement director of the state Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, which licenses shelters and kennels, said he visited the shelter shortly after the fire and was “pleasantly surprised” with the repairs and improvements.
“I’m very impressed. They have a very nice facility,” Burd said, who was accompanied by Bradley D. Shields, a regional supervisor for the bureau. “We’re pleased with what we see. They can be very proud of it.”
He said the state does not require shelters to have air conditioning as long as there is a way to cool the buildings.
The renovations did not include installation of a fire sprinkler system, but employees can watch the dog and cat run areas and all the doors to the shelter using surveillance cameras, which transmit to a monitor in the office, Beatty said.
She said she will be able to watch the monitor from her computer at home.
“It’s state of the art. It’s so much nicer than before the fire,” Beatty said after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
A new computer, an employee lunchroom, emergency and exterior lighting and laundry machines also were added during reconstruction, and all the dog and cat cages were refurbished and cleaned. The old laundry dryer was the source of the accidental fire.
In addition to those improvements, David Meredith of Chester Engineers told the audience of about 40 people who attended the event that the SPCA has started planning an expansion, using its 14-acre lot around the shelter. He said the board wants to construct two buildings and possibly a pet cemetery.
The buildings would have larger areas to house dogs and cats, a boarding kennel, a veterinarian’s office and a larger garage, Meredith said.
He said planning for the future is a testament to the board’s dedication to the shelter.
“We’ve only just begun,” Cerjanec said, adding that construction of the new buildings could start in six months to a year.
Some old business also was cleaned up during the rebuilding process.
Cerjanec said the SPCA paid $96,000 to settle a lawsuit that the current board inherited from the previous administration.
The suit was filed in 1993 after humane officers from the SPCA and Tri-County Humane Protection Inc. and state police conducted a search of a Bullskin Township farm in April 1993 after receiving a tip about a stolen dog and animals being kept in unsanitary conditions.
The SPCA cited the owners, but later withdrew the citations.
Tri-County Humane Protection Inc. also was named in the suit.
The shelter closed for three weeks after a Fayette County jury ruling held the SPCA and Tri-County liable for invasion of privacy and malicious prosecution, but it re-opened.
Last year’s fire did not close the shelter, but it forced it to operate in a makeshift manner until it was able to move dogs and cats back into their runs in November 2004.
Beatty said the shelter was accepting dogs the day after the fire.
Smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide fumes from fire killed 30 dogs and four cats. Only six dogs and an unknown number of cats survived.
The shelter now has cages for 37 large dogs, 30 smaller cages for small dogs and puppies and room for 50 cats.
Business hours for pet adoption are from noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and until 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
It has one full-time and seven part-time employees.
The SPCA has animal control contracts with Uniontown, South Union Township, Brownsville, Bullskin Township, Dunbar, Perry Township, Nicholson Township, Belle Vernon, North Belle Vernon and Everson.