His Excellency Governor Adrian Davis
The Montserrat Animal Protection Society (MAPS) conducted a groundbreaking ceremony for a new animal shelter in Salem. Several members of the Society gathered on location to witness the turning of the soil on April 5, 2013.
The area is located above the Montserrat Community College campus on the way to Duck Pond. After a site blessing by R.C Father George Agger, His Excellency Governor Adrian Davis performed the honours of plunging a shovel into the ground and turning the first soil already graded to begin construction.
The construction is about ready to start in two weeks and should be completed within three months, according to Nigel Harris, president of the society. This, he said, will be at a cost of two hundred and seventy thousand dollars ($270,000). Harris said the government donated the land to MAPS for next to nothing.
Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony on Friday His Excellency Governor Adrian Davis welcomed the new shelter which is he says will be purpose built to meet the needs of Montserrat. “In completing the backbreaking task of breaking ground for the MAP shelter, I’m absolutely delighted to be here partly as patron of MAPS, partly as the Governor and partly as a great dog lover… we left one dog in China and gained another dog here… it’s great that we have the shelter and the prospect of a new shelter,” he told a small gathering.
“This will be a much better purpose built shelter and it meets a real need in Montserrat,” he continued, encouraging that the Society continues its public awareness campaign, “…so that people in Montserrat understand what having a dog and a cat means in terms of their friendship, their friendliness and for them to be as pets rather than guard dogs or duties like that…it’s a great initiative by MAPS and the committee all the donors,” he concluded.
In his own introductory remarks, the MAPS president explained that the Society is funded mainly by donations, mentioning Denise Lutz from Michigan, USA, that dogs and cats have a right to be cared for properly with the current shelter in Cavalla Hill being now too small.
“It is essential that dogs do have a shelter…it’s all done by charity, everyone gives their time freely. The committee most of which are here are absolutely wonderful people, we give lots of time, lots of energy and making sure all the dogs are looked after, I must say thanks to them cause without them this wouldn’t actually be happening,” he said.
He explained further, “We also rely on our donors and the main donor for this project is Denise Lutz from Michigan and she’s being helped by the human society up there. Another organization for Pegasus, I think they’re going to be helping us allot over the next few months when we come to actually equip the building,” he said, concluding with thanks. “We thank them very much for making this actually possible.”
The current shelter located in Cavalla Hill has become too small to accommodate the large number of dogs and cats on island.
