The Galway City Dog Pound is set to become a much improved place for city strays and unwanted dogs awaiting new homes, as it is set for a €125,000 upgrade.
This is the view of Independent Galway city councillor Terry O’Flaherty, who has welcomed the Galway City Council’s funding towards improvements to the pound.
The council has been working on a new design for the building. It will then go to public tender, with a contractor due to be appointed by June/July and works to be completed in three to four months from then.
The dog pound is located in a private commercial estate on Bothar na Mine, Ballybane, and Cllr O’Flaherty said it is “something we as a city cannot be proud of”. According to Cllr O’Flaherty the pound is a “very cold”, as well as “stark and basic building” located on a road “filled with massive potholes”, where illegal dumping is also a significant problem. All this does “not encourage members of the public to visit the facility”. Furthermore the only sign to the dog pound fell down some years ago and has never been replaced.
As a result Cllr O’Flaherty has welcomed the funding which she says is “long overdue”. She also welcomed confirmation that raised beds have been ordered for the dogs so they no longer have to sleep on the concrete floors. “I am hoping that when the improvements take place,” she said, “it will encourage more people to visit the pound and take home one of these unwanted dogs”.
