The upper floor will house exotic animals. Photo: Jennifer Ningel
The situation is completely different on the upper floor. Everything is still under construction there because there is no money. “It’s a temporary roof. It is not insulated yet,” explains Moser. There is no real floor and no partition walls. The second staircase is still missing. And so the upper floor can only be used as a storage room for the time being. But something else is planned: Above the kennels, an area for hedgehogs and exotic animals is to be built, as well as an aviary for migratory and wild birds. The nice thing once the aviary is up: “We can then release the birds straight from the cage into the wild,” says Moser happily, because the animal shelter is in a nature reserve.
The birds could be released directly from the aviary. Photo: Jennifer Ningel
Basically, they tried to use as few bars and fences as possible in the new building. But that wasn’t entirely feasible. In addition to the kennels, the inner courtyard is also separated by a fence. A privacy screen is being installed there this afternoon, “so that the dogs don’t push each other up.”
The groundbreaking ceremony for the new building was in February 2023. Photo: Jennifer Ningel
Costs have exploded
So far, the new building has cost more than 900,000 euros, says the animal shelter manager – financed by a loan, grants from the city and the animal protection association, as well as donations. There is still some of the loan left, but this is only enough for the remaining work in the basement, explains Moser. To finish the upper floor, she would need another 500,000 euros. When planning in 2018, she still assumed construction costs of 980,000 euros – for everything. Now Moser is expecting it to cost more like 1.6 million euros to get everything finished. The animal shelter will not receive another grant from the city, explains Moser. Therefore, further donations are important.
New building of the animal shelter
Donation account:
Animal protection association Weil am Rhein eV; Account 7000623; Bank code 683 518 65; Sparkasse Markgräflerland; IBAN: DE41 6835 1865 0007 0006 23; BIC: SOLADES1MGL
Next open day:
29 September (with guided tour of the new building)
