Albufeira will invest around 1,3 million euros in a municipal kennel, in a dog park, in the acquisition and adaptation of an animal rescue vehicle and in a cemetery for pets.
The biggest project, the municipal kennel, will cost 709 thousand euros and should go to the land in April. The lead time is 180 days.
The municipality of Albufeires is also going to allocate almost 300 thousand euros for the construction of the cemetery, as well as investing around 190 euros in the creation of the dog park and another 95 thousand euros in the rescue vehicle.
The projects were presented on Friday, the 19th, and aim, according to the Albufeirense Chamber, “to improve the well-being, health and safety of pets in the municipality”.
These works are part of a plan “resulting from several years of work, closely sharing the concerns, difficulties and various challenges posed on a daily basis, namely with the National Republican Guard (SEPNA), the Albufeira Voluntary Firefighters and the Animal Welfare Centre, which led us to reflect and find an assertive path regarding these issues», according to Cláudia Guedelha, councilor for the municipality.
The construction of the municipal kennel intends to continue the strategy initiated by the Municipality with the construction of the Animal Welfare Center (the winning project of the first Participatory Budget in Albufeira).
The objective is to «respond to the growing number of abandoned and stray dogs in the county, promote the collection and decent accommodation of animals, carry out sterilization actions with a view to subsequent adoption, improve the quality of the sanitary conditions of the collected animals, proceed with the veterinary supervision and proper nutrition, as well as the active well-being of the animals, considering the existing surrounding spaces».
“The future complex for pet animals comprises a total of 5 modules. In Module O, corresponding to the former Animal Welfare Centre, the public service is installed (reception, cattery, staff changing room, coordination office and a staff room)», according to Albufeira Town Council.
Module A, in turn, is intended for services (clinical office, toilets, technical rooms, multipurpose rooms for adoption actions, awareness against animal abuse, debates and workshops).
The accommodation and permanent collection of animals will be done in Modules B and C. The first consists of “26 cells with capacity for 65 dogs, one cell for maternity or isolation and three cells for quarantine and technical areas”. Module C “has 22 cells with a maximum capacity for 55 dogs, a cell for maternity/isolation and technical areas to support the activity”.
“Finally, Module D is equipped with two semicircular cells and is intended for housing and quarantine of animals with suspected rabies”.
The maximum capacity foreseen for the kennel is 120 animals.
The construction of the buildings took into account «their functional interconnection, as well as respect for the existing tree covering, mostly dominated by cork oaks».
The dog park, on the other hand, «is a natural extension of the Animal Welfare Center and intends to be a recreational space, with equipment for jumping, slalom, bridge, ramp, swing, ring, tunnel and tables for breaks so that the animals can exercise in freedom and safety”.
The objective is that animals and companions «can expend energy, in order to avoid aggressive and destructive behaviors, often associated with lack of exercise, lack of relationships, play and conviviality».
«The Park area is entirely fenced and is divided into two recreational areas, one for larger dogs and the other for smaller dogs, in order to facilitate control and avoid incompatibility between animals. In terms of urban furniture, signs will be placed with indications of the Park's rules of conduct and safety, litter bins with dispensing bags for waste, posts to hold animals, drinking fountains for people and animals and benches», described the municipality.
Here, too, work will begin in April.
However, the Chamber has already acquired a vehicle “which will later be adapted to function as an animal rescue vehicle”.
In this way, the county and the veterinary medical services now have at their disposal 'a multipurpose vehicle that ensures the transport of large numbers of animals, the immediate provision of basic assistance simultaneously with transport, provision of health care in situations of calamity, development of annual vaccination campaigns in conditions of hygiene and safety, and the dignified transport of animals from the collection site to the Animal Welfare Center and from there to clinics and other locations».
The cemetery for pets will be built on land north of the new Municipal Cemetery.
«The construction of the infrastructure aims to fill an existing gap in the municipality, through the creation of an appropriate space for burial and future visits for the animals», according to the Municipality of Albufeira.
“We cannot neglect the importance of affective bonds. Therefore, we are going to build this space, which allows families to say goodbye to their animals, which they have cared for for a lifetime and which deserve our respect, with dignity in an appropriate place”, stressed, for her part, Cláudia Guedelha.
This will be “a symbolic space, of worship and memory, endowed with spaces for enjoyment and stay”.
“The equipment is organized into three different areas: conventional burial, burial in tombs and columbaria (reduced-size modules for depositing urns containing the ashes of animals after cremation)”, describes the municipality.
In this case, the work should go to land in August.
At the ceremony of presentation of these projects, José Carlos Rolo, considered that the projects are «an asset for the council», but stressed that, in order to work, they need «the collaboration of external entities, such as the Firefighters Volunteers and the GNR, which they do an extraordinary job of supporting this dynamic that is necessary for the sake of animal health, safety and welfare».
José Carlos Rolo addressed the issue of animal rights, the problems of mistreatment and abandonment, but also the lack of responsibility and civility of the owners, taking the opportunity to appeal to people to collect the waste from their animals when they go for a walk on the public road. or in the gardens.
Other partners of the municipality have been the council's animal defense associations, namely AGA, PRAVI and Pata Ativa, «as well as the host families, who have given an enormous contribution to the creation of the Plan that gave rise to the projects now presented'.
Paulo Freitas, president of the Municipal Assembly, highlighted the way the project was designed, «with all the details, in terms of architecture, engineering and from a practical point of view. It is a holistic project and I am proud to be implemented in Albufeira».
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