Animatch dog rescue looking to adopt a new kennel space

CTV Montreal: New home for dog home Animatch, which finds homes for dogs, is looking for a new building as its current one is being expropriated.

The owners of an animal adoption organization are on a dogged pursuit of a new location to house their dogs, after the town of Les Cedres announced an expansion of its public works division.

The property being used by Animatch is adjacent the municipal garage that will undergo construction as part of the town’s expansion work.

Until dogs find forever homes, the property in Les Cedres acts as a temporary refuge, where they get medical attention and the other kinds of attention they need.

“It’s very important for them to live as a pack – it improves their social skills,” said Andrea St-Pierre, who takes care of animal socialization for Animatch.

But instead of finding a perfect home for the dogs, the organization is busy trying to find a home for themselves.

The expansion is scheduled to get underway in August. The town has given the organization $300,000 for the property, but even with that amount, they say it will be hard to find a piece of land that’s big enough and zoned for their purposes.

“For a kennel, you have to be in agriculture and have a minimum of so many square feet,” explained Animatch founder Helen Lacroix. “We’ve got that challenge from so many municipalities – 300 meters from neighbours, and this is where the big problem is.”

As the surrounding communities grow, finding 10,000 square metres with a fixed price tag isn’t easy.

Animatch has started a fundraising page to support their search.

While they don’t know where their next home will be, Lacroix said one thing is certain: the dogs will be coming too,

“My dogs, I will keep them with me,” she said. “We will diminish the amount of dogs, I usually have 20, but we will diminish the amount of dogs until we find a place.”

“But we cannot close – because there are too many dogs out there who need help,” she added.