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Repair of animal shelter will cost more than $100K
The Saipan Mayor’s Office animal shelter in Lower Base will need more than $100,000 to repair the damage incurred from Typhoon Soudelor, according to Henry Hofschneider, Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang’s special adviser.
“We’ve had one company go in there and take measurements. Although we can’t give any more details on how much it is specifically…it is more than a $100,000 and we have taken everything into account,” Hofschneider said.
In an earlier interview with Saipan Cares for Animals volunteer Jason Hudy, he said the animal shelter’s roof was blown off and many of the dog cages were damaged.
Hofschneider said the Federal Emergency and Management Agency gave the mayor’s office 60 days from Aug. 19 to come up with the shelter’s damage cost and what needs to be repaired.
“We’re still waiting for a project specialist to prepare documentation and application. We were planning to put out the dog control program back into the villages but with the shelter like that, it is uninhabitable,” Hofschneider said.
He noted that Saipan Cares for Animals, along with the dog control program staff, continue to care for the animals at the shelter. However, they cannot resume their duties of rounding up stray dogs until the shelter is fixed.
“We have sought assistance from FEMA and we will be sending out a request for proposal for the animal shelter,” he said.
The anamal shelter was first built in 2011 at a cost of between $80,000 and $100,000, according to Hofschneider.
Aside from FEMA’s help, Saipan Cares for Animals has also created a GoFundMe page (http://www.gofundme.com/3u3u8gubes) to raise funds to help the animal shelter.
Hudy said the shelter needs cabinets or drawers to store all the donations and medications that have been given after Soudelor hit Saipan.
Right now, there are only 10 dogs and some cats at the shelter and Hudy is urging the public to adopt these animals.
