Christ Yoder
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Triple A President Elise Dunweber and Mayor of Marbella Ángeles Muñoz. /
Just under 500 dogs and cats were moved to temporary shelters during the works, thanks to a team of volunteers who spent days transporting them
Renovation and improvement works at the Triple A Animal Shelter in Marbella have begun. The project began as the charity celebrates its 30th anniversary and is expected to be completed within a year. The facility will increase its surface to almost 2,000 square meters and will see an investment of more than 1.2 million euros.
Existing buildings will be used and prefabricated modules will be adapted to create separate areas for different types of animals, making the facility more organized and structured. In addition to the construction works, the lighting will be replaced by LED luminaires, with the aim of modernization and improving energy efficiency.
The mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, said during a recent visit to see the works, “it is a major project, which we have been developing for more than two years and which is very complex due to the nature of the terrain” .
Just under 500 dogs and cats were moved to temporary shelters during the works, thanks to a team of volunteers who spent days transporting them. “No one can imagine the amount of work that is being done to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible,” said Lily van Tongeren, vice chair of the new Triple A board and a volunteer for 30 years. “As the days pass, we discover new needs, like the roof of the dog shelter, which is being installed,” she explained.
The challenge now is to ensure that all animals are housed accordingly: “There are dogs who cannot be with others because of their behavior, others who have to be in quarantine or puppies who just arrived,” Lily explains, adding that the same goes for cats.
Carrier strike
The shelter has also been affected by the recent transporters’ strike as they depend on transport companies for food and beds. “I asked for as many volunteers as possible to bring what we needed with their vehicles,” Lily said. “It takes a lot of hands. There are not enough people and certainly not enough money to take care of all the animals.” However, she remains optimistic and acknowledges that “we are all doing our best here: the volunteers, but also the council who respond to all our requests and do everything they can to help”.
Increased capacity
Muñoz explained that the new headquarters “will be able to help 700 animals, considerably increasing the capacity of the association”. It will have 70 modules for dogs and cats and a closed area of 610 square meters and an open area of 956 square meters.
There will also be 21 modules for other uses; a space for dogs, which will differentiate small and large, and which will have a veterinary room with operating block, recovery and washing area, as well as training areas, kennels and storage areas, and a similar space for cats, with a quarantine area for sick animals and another for recreation, with a central area for events.
Triple A President Elise Dunweber said: “The launch of this project makes us very happy, because the association has been collecting abandoned animals from Marbella and San Pedro Alcántara for three decades and it was essential to be able to have facilities perfectly equipped.” In the meantime, whether in old, new or temporary ones, the animals are “waiting for a chance to have a better life,” he added.
