Yes, it’s the council’s brand new dog pound, located in Featherston. At $114,00 a kennel, it cost $456,000 to build and it’s not even gold-plated.
In other parts of the country, that level of dog box sees “quotes (to built them that) are in the millions.”
So perhaps little wonder the council’s dog crates won the “Super Idea” category award and was a runner-up for the Supreme award at the local government conference last month.
The council noted: “housing up to four dogs, the pound uses solar energy as its main power source, collects rainwater to fill the water tanks, and (is) designed to fit within the environs. This ensures a small carbon footprint and an off-the-grid, sustainable structure.”
Councillor Rebecca Gray who attended the conference said it was wonderful to see how well thought of this initiative was.
“The competition was pretty massive and to win our category as well as come second overall in the Supreme Award, was unbelievable. A very proud moment for Council staff.”
As a territorial authority, the council is by law required to operate a dog pound that provides proper custody and care of impounded dogs. It needs to be economically and animal health-wise sound, and functionally as well as aesthetically pleasing.
The brain behind the dog pound’s kennel design was Environmental Services Manager Rick Mead, who said the council “can now fulfil our responsibility to meet and exceed the standards for animal welfare.”
The dog pound is at Soldiers’ Settlement Road North in Featherston.
