“We appreciate that some may have concerns at the outset from the history of the previous refuge, which was literally an old house and some cyclone fencing,” Paws and Claws president Michael Kerr said.

“This facility will be the extreme opposite. On completion the property will have cost well over the million-dollar mark and will consist of a soundproof housing facility and monitored run areas acoustically designed where limited dogs will be rotated and able to leisure outside during day light hours.”

Kerr said Homeless Animal Society and Boarding Kennels committee had come to the conclusion that an indoor ‘soundproof building’ is the only option after numerous failed attempts of constructing an outdoor facility. 

With the assistance of a planning consultant and an 'acoustic engineer', Paws and Claws are confident that the facility will not impact any of the nearby industrial businesses.

“We are expecting to receive the same types of comments as we have in the past based around noise and smell,” Kerr said.

“We have searched examples of the many indoor facilities that there are now in Australia and have taken the best practices to ensure we can successfully cater for both these issues.

“Any animal lover knows that dogs bark when they are stimulated, a person walking in or past, or another dog interacting for example. These modern facilities are built to ensure the minimum opportunity for that occurs whilst using the most modern technology to entrap and muffle any noise that may be made.”

Paws and Claws have entered into a contract of sale for the premises with the condition of a ‘Council Change of Material Use’.

The new planning scheme allows for public comment on the assessment.

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