NEWS AND VIEWS: Cape Breton Shelter was forced to clear the building of dogs, cats and one rabbit over fears that the roof might collapse under the weight of heavy snow that fell during a snowstorm that lasted four days.
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| The Cape Breton SPCA in Sydney, N.S., as it appeared on Tuesday. The organization says there are concerns the roof could collapse under the weight of snow. (Sarah Lyon - image credit) |
When Sarah Lyon was interviewed by CBC's Main Street Cape Breton in an interview on Wednesday, she said that staff were "prepping the animals and getting them ready for evacuation."
At the time the shelter had 45 animals including 19 dogs, both adults and puppies, and 25 cats and one rabbit.
The snow storm lasted four days as mentioned and staff stayed with the animals as they heard creaking sounds coming from the roof while it bowed under the weight of the snow.
Sarah Lyon said that the ceiling was starting to look structurally unreliable.
The shelter animals will be placed in other shelters until it safe to return. In the meantime a contractor went to the shelter to remove snow and ice from the roof. The building is 47 years old. Comment: that isn't very old but I guess they had to evacuate the building out of an abundance of caution. Questions should be asked about the original construction.
The report by CBC implies that the building will need work in order to test the structural integrity and potential repair. Comment: repairs might be expensive which is the kind of expense that an animal shelter does not want.
Further comment: is the first time that I have encountered a news story about an animal shelter where the roof might collapse under the weight of snow. I've been reading stories about shelters for the last 15 years so this is a novel situation which is why I am reporting it.
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