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SMO animal shelter could be completed in a year
The Saipan Mayor’s Office new, state-of-the-art, animal shelter could possibly be completed in a year’s time, according to Dog Control Program manager Partin Pangelinan.
He declined to give an exact date but said he was informed that the shelter would be ready in possibly a year. “I don’t really want to say. All I’m hearing from the leadership is ‘soon.’ They say it’s going to happen in the span of one year but we’re just waiting on [Federal Emergency Management Agency] money,” he said.
The current animal shelter in As Perdido took a massive hit following Super Typhoon Yutu, with the entire facility losing its ceiling and the kennels being damaged.
“The shelter is basically gone. We took a lot of damage and, until this day, we’re still trying to recover. The kennels, on a scale from 1-10, they’re at a 4 or 5,” he said.
Since Yutu, the shelter can only accommodate about 60 animals. According to Saipan Tribune archives, before Yutu, the shelter was able to house over 100 animals.
Pangelinan said despite the sustained damage, repairs have not been made to the current shelter because they are waiting on the new shelter that has been in the works since Super Typhoon Soudelor.
“The Dog Control Program is trying its best to make the pound look good and tidy it up but it’s really hard and I think the reason why we’re not actually fixing the shelter right now is because we might have a new shelter soon, so it’s just a waiting game. They’re working on getting us a top-of-the-line animal shelter for the Dog Control Program but, until it does happen, we’re just dealing with what we have and we’re trying to make it work,” he said.
