ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – The Roanoke Valley SPCA has been closed since late December for roof and HVAC system repairs.
Originally targeting a late-January or early-February reopening, the facility is now hoping to open its doors again by March 10.
“Originally, we were told the end of February and then first of March and now it’s March 10,” said RVSPCA director of marketing and communications Julie Rickmond. “So, we are hoping we will be opened up March 10 but again that could potentially change just because so much of the work is outdoors.”
Weather has been the primary cause of the delay, particularly after a very cold spell that included several winter weather events in January.
Now, there is potential for more winter weather this week.
“We are certainly worried that the snow, if we get some, or any bad weather could affect this and delay it even further,” said Rickmond. “So we’ve really got our fingers crossed about this, but we’ll just have to see what happens. We just don’t know.”
The repairs are extensive, costing more than $600,000, but they are necessary.
“We had about a quarter of our dog kennels had been shut down and that was due to that roof leaking,” said Rickmond. “When it would rain outside it would rain inside and we cannot house dogs in leaky kennels.”
The RVSPCA has not been able to take in new animals since mid-December when it was focused on getting all of its current animals into foster homes.
And spring is when shelters around the state typically see the largest demands for intakes.
“They are beginning to rise now but usually in the spring time, we’ll be inundated like most shelters with kittens that come in, a lot of orphaned kittens that come in, puppies,” said Lisa O’Neill, director of Angels of Assisi.
There is also pressure for the shelter to reopen in time for its ‘Best in Show,’ event.
It is the shelter’s biggest fundraiser of the year and is supposed to happen on March 13.
The RVSPCA said most of their foster homes have been able to keep their animals through the extended repair timetable, and a few have already turned into full-on adoptions.