“We have an excellent selection of inventory – clothing, books, CDs, DVDs, bric-a-brac – which have been kindly donated by residents across the shire,” said Paws and Claws president Michael Kerr.

“From next week, we’ll be selling furniture on our Facebook Page. Donations can also be made to GoFundMe and to date, we have received $2,000.”

The refuge centre committee paid cash - $800,000 – for the Craiglie building, which was formally a printing press, and now need to raise $450,000 to convert the property into a state-of-the-art facility. 

The proposed structure will be better understood once the draft plans have been presented to Council for approval.

Kerr is confident the money will be raised and it might be his perseverance that’s promoting this buoyant approach.

In fact, one is led to believe that perseverance is very much a part of the Douglas Shire Councillor’s DNA. Perhaps he was inspired by two-time British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1868; 1874-1880), who said:

“Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure.”

“It’s been a long, hard slog. There were times we took one step forward and two backwards. Now that we’ve got the emotional side behind us, the result was massive for our committee who were exhausted by the process and we can now move ahead and achieve our goal,” said Kerr.

Council’s final blessing came after they were satisfied with a more thorough acoustic report which ensured neighbouring properties would not be disturbed by barking.

“There is irony in that the building we purchased was a printing press which operated 24/7 and was extremely noisy. I am confident once we have converted it into an animal shelter with its superior acoustics, it will meet the required standards.”

Before work can begin on the draft plans, there is a 20-day waiting period if any of the businesses within the vicinity of the proposed refuge have any objections to the shelter. This is to be followed by the draft plans and if approved by council it will go to tender.

The much loved animal refuge has been homeless since it was forced to vacate its previous facility in Craiglie in 2016.

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