Thermal zone puts SPCA animals at risk

By JO-MARIE BROWN

The Kawerau SPCA will soon have to turn its back on hundreds of stray animals because geothermal activity beneath its building is killing those it is trying to save.

From October 1 the town's SPCA volunteers will care for sick and injured animals only because heat and sulphur fumes emitted from the ground below have rendered most of the building unusable.

Last summer five kittens died from heat exhaustion and staff and other animals sweltered in temperatures that topped 30C.

Kawerau SPCA president Jenny Asquith said many kittens and puppies suffered from lethargy and diarrhoea after enduring the heat. Staff were not prepared to put the animals through that again.

"They come here to get a better sort of life and really they're not getting that in this building," she said.

"In summer the sweat actually runs down our faces within five minutes. The heat is terrible."

Sulphur has also begun to corrode the building's walls and volunteers often get headaches.

The heat underground has become so intense over the past two years that water from the cold tap has to be refrigerated to make it cool enough for the animals to drink.

The SPCA has been unable to find a suitable place to move to because many locals object to the noise of barking dogs. The organisation could also not afford to build a new shelter or relocate, said Mrs Asquith.

Instead stray animals - which make up 75 per cent of the dogs and cats cared for - would not be taken in after October 1.

Volunteers planned to care for injured animals at home or in the building's staffroom which was not as hot as the rest of the centre.

Responsibility for stray animals would then fall to the Kawerau District Council which does not have facilities to care for cats or puppies.

Council operations and services manager Tom McDowall said he was investigating upgrading the building to overcome the heat problem.

"Closure is not good for the community so the council wants to see what it can do to help," he said.