Oak Tree Animals’ Charity will close its Wetheral site from tomorrow to the public for critical repairs.
It said that a flood last year caused extensive damage to its underground drainage system, which now needs replacing.
The charity also needs to make significant improvements to its infrastructure.
It said the total costs of the two projects was £1.5 million.
It said while it would be able to continue to care for animals at the site and rehome them, work will mean significant disruption which means it will have to close to visitors from tomorrow, Thursday July 9.
It said: “The scale of these projects will cause significant disruption and, in order to protect the safety of our staff, animals and supporters, a temporary closure is our only viable course of action.
“This measure will allow us to focus our limited resources on caring for the animals who depend on us, while we continue to address these significant infrastructure challenges.
“We will be continuing the care for our animals and our rehoming services throughout this period. Potential adopters will still be able to meet our animals by appointment.
Many of our supporters will remember the devastating flooding we experienced last year. Thanks to your incredible generosity, we were able to carry out essential repairs to keep our kennels and cattery safe.
“Every donation, fundraising effort, and message of encouragement helps us to continue providing care for vulnerable animals during this extremely challenging period.”
What this means
- Animal adoptions and viewings will continue, but by appointment only.
- External fundraising events organised by our fundraising team will still go ahead as planned.
- Supporters will still be able to drop off donations in the container in the front car park.
- All retail shops will remain open as usual.
- The InPost lockers will remain open.
