Dr Hugh Wirth AM KSJ, RSPCA President and Maria Mercurio, RSPCA Chief Executive Officer opened stage one of the state-of-the-art animal shelter at Burwood East on Wednesday August 8.

Many RSPCA major sponsors, donors and supporters attended the opening ceremony.

Following speeches thanking everyone who has contributed to providing the wonderful new facility, the ribbon was cut by Dr Hugh Wirth AM KSJ, Maria Mercurio, Shannon Jones (passionate Paw Prints Member and junior fundraiser) and Pat Salmon (a long-term RSPCA volunteer who has contributed almost 20,000 volunteer hours to the dogs in our care).

Pat led ‘Lager’, a Staffordshire terrier, through to the luxurious new kennel facilities, which are fully enclosed, with in-floor heating and non-mechanised air-cooling. From the kennels the animals have views through double-glazed windows to vividly coloured courtyards specially designed to provide stimulation.

Stage one provides much improved facilities for 200
pound, quarantine, welfare boarding and seized dogs.

RSPCA Chief Executive Officer Maria Mercurio said, "This is a major milestone for the RSPCA and it is pleasing that we will have such an improved, state of the art environment for the animals in our care and of course for our staff and volunteers. This exciting new development has been made possible because of a very generous benefactor. The memory and vision of Mrs. Johnson will live on at the RSPCA, as this redevelopment is due to her generosity."

The benefactor, Mrs. Martha Johnson was an entrepreneurial and visionary woman of her generation. She acquired 100 acres of land in Doreen when she was a young lady in the early 20^th century. It was her wish that the land be directed towards the benefits of animal welfare through the RSPCA.

"We are most appreciative of NH Architecture, Burns Bridge (our Project Managers), S.J. Higgins Building Contractors and BigFish (who designed the actual kennel enclosures) for their efforts to realise a dream for the RSPCA. We also thank Corporate Volunteers from ANZ, NAB, Ernst & Young, Alinta, JB Were and Sensis who assisted in the landscaping", Ms Mercurio said.

A master plan has been developed and broken into key stages. The new Kennels represent the first phase of stage one with the new adoption centre and public open areas to be built to complete stage one.

Our fantastic new facilities at Burwood are really starting to take shape!

Visitors to the RSPCA would have noticed the very dramatic black and white cladding that has been applied to the exterior of our Kennels. This colour is said to  work well with stimulating the dogs, and at the same time breaks up the size of the structure.

There has been a lot of progress inside. The painting in lots of bright colours is nearly complete, the installation of the partitions for the first 80 kennels and lining the food preparation areas has finished and installation of the acoustic panels (again in Black and White) on the ceilings of the pods is progressing.

The builders will be starting to put the final touches on during the last half of June.

The landscaping and final kennel work will be completed during July and we will be planning an opening at the start of August when we will let the first of our canine friends into their new accommodation.

Kennel partitions installed upstairs in Pod 1	The unfinished interior of a kennel partition
Installed water pump and filters Pod 1	Completed external cladding Pod 1
Lining installed in Food Preparation room	Canopy roof and balcony hand rail being installed