Orillia animal centre reopens to the public after months of extensive upgrades

The Ontario SPCA Orillia Animal Centre is open to the public to showcase its newly renovated facility and resume pet adoptions and rehoming requests.

The animal centre temporarily closed in September for extensive upgrades.

"There's a fresh cost of paint, brand new floors, new cat rooms, new cat sunrooms, upgraded dog rooms - we have basically made the flow of the centre a lot better. Not only for staff but also for the animals. There are things we need to take into consideration: they're coming into the shelter, and they're nervous," said Natalie Harris, Ontario SPCA and Humane Society of Orillia community outreach coordinator."

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The West Street North Centre renovation aims to "strengthen and grow its animal welfare and community support services."

"As the needs of the community grow, we want to be ready to support the animals and the people who love them," stated Carol Beard, Ontario SPCA Orillia Animal Centre manager.

During the renovations, animals waiting to be adopted were relocated to neighbouring community animal centres and foster homes.

"Any strays that would come in, we had a trailer out in the parking lot, so our staff would intake them temporarily there. We post it out on social media, but for any animal that had to be rehomed or fostered, we would use as much of the local community for fostering but we would have to use other Ontario SPCA animal centres, so it's nice to be able to take on our own animals in the community again," Harris explained.

The Orillia SPCA is seeking volunteers and foster homes.

A public open house is planned for the spring.