By Bonny Burrows
A pet boarding house in Longwarry North will be operating as a council-run animal pound by mid-September.
At its 26 July general council meeting, Baw Baw Shire approved plans for the conversion of Utopia Pet Lodge – a five-acre animal accommodation venue at 61 Princes Way, Longwarry – into a municipal pound.
Stage one works on the $350,000 development are expected to be completed within the next two months, allowing for the facility to be used as a pound come mid-September.
The facility will replace the “not fit for purpose” pound at Galloway Street, Warragul which had a capacity of eight dogs and nine cats.
Baw Baw Shire Mayor Joe Gauci said the pound had been a “pressing issue” for the local community, with the current site often at maximum capacity.
“With the direction settled and these plans now firmly in place, we’re able to move forward with clarity and certainty to deliver a much improved pound facility for the shire,” Mayor Gauci said.
Original council plans involved the co-location of the pet lodge – acquired by council in 2016 – and pound.
However with the facility running at a loss for some time, and community concerns surrounding the suitability of a co-locating the facilities, it was decided to refurbish Utopia for exclusive use as a new pound.
According to the mayor, the two-stage development will “get animals into the new facility as soon as possible”.
“This way, we can close the old Galloway Street pound as soon as stage one is completed in September and move operations immediately to the new, modern facility at Longwarry North,” Mayor Gauci said.
Once the new facility is in operation, stage two works will see a further expansion including 22 additional dog enclosures, a dog isolation area, three new cat isolation enclosures and the construction of a new dog exercise yard and heightened security measures.
Council anticipates the second stage of works will be completed by December this year, following an open tender process at an estimated cost of $230,000.
To make way for the commencement of works, Utopia Pet Lodge will cease operation on 21 August.
