Council floats new options for animal shelter

It’s the final week to respond to a call by council for expressions of interest (EOI) for a new shelter.

The RSPCA is maintaining its shelter in Orange, but will no longer be providing an animal holding facility or pound for impounded or surrendered animals on behalf of the council.

Orange City Council Companion Animals Committee chair, Cr Neil Jones is looking forward to seeing how local businesses respond to the EOI offer.

“Since the RSPCA announced its decision, council staff have been looking at how best to provide a new facility, “ Cr Neil Jones said.

“This change gives the opportunity to look at different options, to fine-tune and potentially improve the way that animal services have been delivered in the past.”

“Some of the options on the table include having a shelter that is owned privately but run by the council or having a private operator both own and run the facility. This project might suit someone who is already running a facility like a boarding kennel. It may be that a private operator routinely has a number of spare kennel-cages and could provide some extra capacity for short periods of time. “

“There are a number of options on the table and council is interested to talk with anyone keen to find out some more.”

“The Council has an important community role in dealing with stray or surrendered animals or managing dogs in the aftermath of an attack. Orange needs a facility to receive animals until their owners are located, or a stray can be re-homed. When a dog is impounded or surrendered following an attack, the council has the role of keeping the animal while decisions are made about its future.”

The Expression of Interest process began last month and the deadline for applications is Wednesday 26 June.

The detailed EIO information documents can be found online at www.tenderlink.com/orange