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RSPCA to rebuild animal shelter after 46 years

Louise FewsterYork
BBC/Louise Fewster Demolition rubble of a concrete wall with green trees and bushes in the background with metal fencing to the left of the pictureBBC/Louise Fewster
Demolition work has started to transform the York Animal Home in Clifton

The RSPCA has begun redeveloping a rescue shelter that has offered rehoming services for nearly 50 years.

York Animal Home on Landing Lane in Clifton is the city's main cattery and puppy unit, but the site near the River Ouse is prone to flooding.

Demolition work has already started and the buildings will be replaced with modern facilities as part of the £5m project.

The charity's campaign manager, Lucy Lowthian, said the centre still needed to raise £800,000 from donations to continue its work.

BBC/Louise Fewster Black and white dog in the arms of Ruth who has blonde hair tied back in a white shirt and is smiling. In the background is a brown bricked building with black stairs.BBC/Louise Fewster
Ruth McCabe is the manager of the RSPCA's York Animal Home

The centre has been the place generations of York families have gone to to adopt dogs and cats since it opened in 1980.

Hundreds of pets, including small animals, pass through the shelter each year and are given veterinary care and rehabilitation before they are rehomed.

The site currently operates under conditional licensing arrangements, meaning many of its buildings are no longer fit for purpose.

Centre manager Ruth McCabe said: "The demolition is saying goodbye to just so many memories, so many stories, so many animals that have passed through the doors of those buildings to start new lives."

RSPCA Aerial image of light brown buildings with red roofs and a courtyard in the middle with five vehicles parked up. Trees surround the back of the buildingsRSPCA
Aerial image of the cattery and the puppy unit before they were demolished

The first phase of the redevelopment is a new cattery with improved welfare provision.

Future phrases will include specialist accommodation for mothers with puppies, and a new community welfare hub.

The charity has suspended accepting cats until the new building is finished in June 2027.

McCabe added: "We know this is only temporary and hopefully once we can raise the money we can get the cattery and then we can start accepting cats back in again."

She and Lowthian said that the branch that runs York Animal Home was independent of the central RSPCA, so could not access national funding.

They are offering supporters the chance to sponsor a brick on the walls of the new cattery or puppy unit for £50.

Lowthian added: "If we can't raise the money, the buildings just won't be rebuilt."

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