Gallery: Estonia's most modern animal shelter completed in Viljandi
Just outside Viljandi, in the village of Mustivere, Estonia's most modern animal shelter has been completed. It will serve all of Viljandi County's municipalities — Mulgi, Põhja-Sakala and Viljandi Municipality, as well as the City of Viljandi.
The nonprofit Varjupaikade MTÜ has operated an animal shelter in the village of Mustivere, just outside Viljandi, for 18 years and will continue to do so in the future as a contractual partner to the local municipalities. Board member Triinu Priks said that while the new building has all the conditions necessary to ensure animals' lives and well-being, the old one lacked them almost entirely.
"At this point, the situation is such that the old building is completely moldy and lets both wind and water through. In principle, there are no proper conditions there anymore," Priks said.
The new Viljandi animal shelter can accommodate 16 dogs and has 106 spaces for cats.
"We have a separate intake area. First, the animal goes there, where a veterinarian and an assistant examine it and carry out the necessary procedures. After that, a place is found for the animal, and then we begin searching for its previous owner. If the animal is microchipped, it can go straight home; if not, it has 14 days to wait for the owner. If no one comes forward, we then start looking for a new home," Priks added.
Viljandi city government property manager Andres Mägi said that although the shelter stands on city-owned land, its construction was supported by all the county's municipalities. The majority of the €1.8 million spent on designing, building and furnishing the facility came from county development strategy funding. The municipalities and the city of Viljandi will also jointly cover the shelter's day-to-day operating costs.
"When designing, we definitely learned from other local governments that had built something recently. We also involved Varjupaikade MTÜ, our previous contract partner, in the planning process and asked about their needs. Convenience and beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but I believe our dogs and cats will be well cared for here. And especially since the service provider is satisfied with the facilities, I think everything has turned out very well," Mägi said.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Johanna Alvin
