$11.5m Ballarat animal shelter to provide for west Victorian pets fleeing violence or waiting for love

An $11.5 million shelter in Ballarat will include space for 100 more animals and crisis accommodation for those in dangerous homes.

Lost or forfeited west Victorian pets ready to be re-loved will soon have a new place to stay while waiting for adoption.

An $11.5 million shelter in Mitchell Park, Ballarat will replace the one now in Alfredton, an old abattoir, and take care of pets in Ballarat and beyond, including those from the Hepburn, Moorabool, Golden Plains, Pyrenees, Ararat, and Central Goldfields areas.

It will boast better holding pens, space for an additional 100 animals, improved infection control, and crisis accommodation for pets in dangerous situations, such as violent households.

Kittens in the Alfredton shelter looking for love.

Ballarat mayor Daniel Moloney said the number of pets needing accommodation would only increase with Ballarat’s population.

“It’s so amazing to be able to finally move out of this facility, in maybe just over a year’s time,” he said.

“Land is secured already over in Mitchell Park: it’s council land already, so construction can start reasonably quickly.

“It’s not just about Ballarat; it’s about our whole region – so many animals from across our neighbouring shires will benefit from this as well.”

The new shelter will have space for 100 more animals.

Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she was “shocked” at the inadequacy of the building used for the shelter at the moment.

“What we know is that the time in a pound can be very, very stressful for animals and have a significant impact on their welfare, and in fact the longer that they’re in a pound the less likely they’re potentially to be adopted, because it’s not an ideal environment,” she said.

“But with this new purpose-built shelter … we can do so much more to improve the environment for those animals and the ultimate outcomes for those animals.”

Ms Thomas called the crisis accommodation “vitally important”.

“We know that on any given day there are people in our community experiencing poor health or mental health episodes or indeed are the victims of family violence who need to get their animal somewhere safe quickly,” she said.

“So that will be provided, and it will be provided in way that is very respectful of the privacy of those people and their particular needs.”

Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas called crisis accommodation for pets “vitally important”.

Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick said aside from the regular work of an animal shelter, the crisis accommodation provided by the new centre would be crucial for regional Victorian families.

“We know that perpetrators of family violence will often use the family animal, the family companion animal, as a coercive tool to prevent that woman from leaving that relationship with their children,” he said.

“They’ll threaten to kill the animal, they’ll do all these sorts of horrible things in front of those children, so it’s really important to be able to provide that service, that crisis accommodation, so that that family can get out of that potentially dangerous situation.”

Local and state government representatives and shelter manager Clare Douglas-Haynes with dog Eureka.

Between August 2020 and August 2021, the Alfredton shelter – which is expected to be demolished – held 2136 animals, often operating at its maximum capacity.

The City of Ballarat allocated $200,000 to planning for the new shelter in its 2021/22 budget, and the $11.5 million for construction was included in the state government’s recent 2022/23 budget.

Ms Thomas said the state would also establish the country’s first pet census to guide related policy.