A vacant office space used occasionally for election campaigns will soon be filled with animals.
On Saturday, the BC SPCA will officially opens its doors to showcase its new Tri-City digs, a 2,045-sq. ft. facility that’s much bigger than its former storefront in Port Coquitlam.
Located at 1-2565 Barnet Hwy., Coquitlam — next to Bosley’s pet store — the adoption and education site includes room for a dozen kittens plus adult cats, rabbits, rodents and birds.
All of the pets have been surrendered by their owner or transferred from other BC SPCA centres around the province as part of the non-profit society’s Drive for Lives program.
Manager Dianne Stebner said the goal is to find homes for the animals in two weeks “and we are hoping for puppies and small-breed dogs in the future,” she said during a tour Wednesday.
Stebner, who previously worked at the PoCo SPCA and as acting supervisor at the city of Coquitlam’s animal shelter, said she’s most excited about the education room at the back, which will see Books for Buddies, animal yoga practices, summer camps and birthday parties.
“Now that we have got a bigger space, we can increase the size of our community events.”
The operations will also be run by assistant manager Melvin Chan, auxiliaries and volunteers.
And though they already have a pool of more than 100 helpers, Stebner said extra hands are always needed to assist with the pets, administration, community outreach and fundraisers such as Paws for Cause, Wine and Whiskers, pub nights and cupcake days, to name a few.
“There are lots of ways to help us if you don’t want to care for the animals,” Stebner said.
• To lend a hand, register online at spca.bc.ca/volunteer. Volunteers must be 16 and older.
