Dog 'kennel' improvements near completion
By James Moate Endeavor News

George 'Ted' Sowers gives Endeavor News a tour of the dog retainment facility on South Mountain Road.

Cameron County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (CCSPCA) president George "Ted" Sowers has announced that renovations to the dog retainment facility near the Mid-Cameron Authority sewage treatment plan on south Mountain in Emporium Borough are near completion.

Consisting of five separate kennels, the retainment facility is used as a temporary holding unit for lost and stray dogs until they are adopted.

This Project was funded with a $3,000 grant from the Emporium Foundation. Emporium Borough matched that with in-kind services for doing the renovation work. They also paid for the materials used for the roof.

"The borough crew did an excellent job," said Sowers. "It (the building) really has come a long way from where it was."

Renovations included the installation of a new roof, installation of all new electricical wiring and painting the interior of the facility. New dog holding "cells" were the most costly of the items replaced, which even exceeded the cost of materials for the new roof.

Bob Cummings Construction donated their excess concrete from the neighboring sewage treatment facility job. It was set next to the facility and will be used for the floor of a storage shed for supplies.

"It was something that we wanted to be done by last fall," said CCSPCA member Joyce Beichner. "But is wasn't done because there was a lot of kennel activity."

In 2007, 36 dogs were in and out of the tempoary holding unit.

Borough Manager Don "Stretch" Reed said that nothing constructive had been done to the facility for the last 20 years.

"It was in a state of major disrepair," said Reed. "The roof had become so bad that someone had actually put railroad ties on top of it so it wouldn't blow away."

Donations made by the community were also used for materials but, according to Beichner, the CCSPCA tries to save that money more for the animals themselves.

Money was also set aside for a better facility including a $500 donation given by Robert Yahnite in memory of his mother, Lucy Ann Riley Yahnite. That donation is to be used for a shed to hold dog food, traps and other supplies.

According to Beichner, the next phase is to install a slot drain in front and connect it to the sewage line. Plans to start that project are being postponed until after the construction of the sewage treatment plant has been completed. At that time, they will also start constructing an office and a washroom for the animals where they can be bathed, defleaed, etc. Goal for completion of that project is the end of 2008.

Members of the CCSPCA take turns tending to dogs that are kept there.

CCSPCA members meet on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 pm in the Emporium Borough conference room. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday. There is no cost to join and new members are always welcome. For more information, visit petfinder.com/shelters/ PA361.html or call George Sowers at 486-0867.