05/09/2000 00:00
TW
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The Centro Canino animal shelter in Palma is facing the difficult task of finding a new home. The site they have occupied since the 1960s, just off the Calle Jesus in Palma, is to be bulldozed to make way for a new park area being planned by the council. Staff at the centre have until next summer to find new suitable premises or otherwise they risk closure. “I have already looked at some alternative sites but it is going to be a costly operation and it doesn't appear that we will receive any form of compensation,” said President Barbara Mayhew. Staff also fear that the home will be combined with the municipal dog pound, at Son Reus, where a much stricter regime is maintained and dogs and cats are destroyed unless a suitable home is found in a short space of time. “We are naturally going to fight for the survival of the Centro,” said Mrs. Mayhew adding that she was trying to contact officials at the city council. At the moment the Centro Canino is home to 200 dogs and cats. “For more than three decades we have been providing a free service for the city council,” said Barbara Mayhew. The Centro is now an associate member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) in Britain and they will be calling on their support in their battle to find alternative accommodation. Many of the companies next door to the animal shelter are already planning to re-locate to other parts of the city because of the park project. A fund-raising committee is in the process of being formed, according to volunter Elizabeth Whitehead. The sole purpose of this committee is to raise funds to try and find alternative premises.