reality sound bites.
New Shelter for Florida Keys SPCA.
The groundbreaking ceremony to build a much-needed new facility for the Florida Keys SPCA was scheduled for November 30, as we headed to press with this issue. The three-year capital campaign raised $6.1 million to build the 23,000-square-foot building that will end up costing $8.3 million. “The size of the new shelter isn’t much different from what we have other than we won’t have all these open spaces and ramshackle buildings,” said FKSPCA President Jane Dawkins. The current facility is in a state of disrepair with electrical tape,
makeshift insulation and temporary sun coverage throughout. The shelter’s clinic operates out of a trailer with little space to move around. Despite the cramped quarters, the clinic has spayed or neutered more than 14,000 pets since 1999. Clearwater’s Bacon Group, an architectural firm specializing in
designing animal services facilities, veterinary hospitals and board- ing kennels, consulted on the project. Biltmore Construction, another Clearwater company, is the project manager. The two-story facility will be built to withstand hurricane
Bunnel Facility Trains Dogs To Detect Arson.
The Flagler County Fire Rescue burn building, was the site of a national training program for recertification of arson dogs in October, hosted by Florida’s Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigation. Across the country, more and more fire investi- gators are turning to specially-trained dogs to help them in their arson investigations. Fresca (shown above) is one of six trained arson K9s in Florida who have been deployed more than 365 times across the state in the past year. Most of the dogs in the program are Labrador Retrievers, used for their keen sense of smell. State Farm started the arson dog program in 1993, paying to train more than 360 dogs and handler teams in 44 states. The dogs are extremely effective at detect- ing accelerants, which arsonists use to help start and intensify blazes. When investigators utilize the trained K9s, they are able to find accelerant eight times faster.
St. Petersburg’s Pet Food Warehouse Hosts Girl Scout Troop To Help Military Working Dogs.
The seven cadet/senior level Girl Scouts of Troop 218 try to involve helping animals as one of their projects each year.
This year, through an organization called Soldiers Angels (
SoldiersAngels.org), they have adopted a Kennel Master who is deployed overseas and in charge of 16 K9 teams of Military Working Dogs (MWD). They are raising funds and awareness as well as collecting supplies to ship much- needed supplies to the MWDs. “We all love animals,” said Skylar McInerney, a 16- year-old student at Northeast High School. “Many people are involved with helping the military, and don’t realize the dogs need help as well,” she added. When Susie Kupfer, co-owner of Pet Food Warehouse in St. Petersburg heard of the troop’s project, she offered her store as a drop-off point for supplies. The girls creat- ed a box for the supplies that sits in the store. The box has been filled up two times
16 THE NEW BARKER
since they started the project in July. So far, they have shipped out a half a dozen pack- ages to their adopted Kennel Master, who has expressed appreciation in several emails to the girls. A few times a month, members of Troop 218 set up a table at Pet Food Warehouse to collect donations and hand- out information on their project. Shipping costs are around $17 per package, so their fundraising is an essential part of the proj- ect. When we asked the girls how long they would continue with the project, 14- year-old Alyson McInerney responded, “As long as our soldiers and their K9s are deployed.”
To help the Girl Scouts, visit Pet Food Warehouse, 1830 61st Ave. N. St. Petersburg. Call 727.521.6191.
www.TheNewBarker.com
force winds. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2017.
FKSPCA.org
Photograph by David Tucker/News-Journal.
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