Kapiti SPCA Shelter Manager Lloyd Warren with a canine customer and kennels built by prisoners at Rimutaka Prison.
Rimutaka Prison has donated a large trailer-load of dog kennels and cat scratching posts to theKapiti SPCA. The kennels and scratching posts were made by prisoners from the Reintegration Unit.
Reintegration Unit Manager Michael Murphy says the prisoners began designing and building the kennels in March this year.
“I was looking for a good project to get the guys involved in and so I visited some of the businesses in my local area on the Kapiti Coast,” he said.
Through discussions with the local SPCA Michael discovered that the kennels and cat scratching posts would be a great addition to the organisation, and a local carpet business also donated carpet scraps to the Prison for the scratching posts.
Kapiti SPCA Shelter Manager Lloyd Warren says this is a win-win situation.
“Some people who adopt our dogs don’t own dog kennels and may not be able to afford them. With these fantastic kennels, we can provide people with a kennel which can be covered as part of their adoption fee or with a small donation.”
Mr Warren also said that the scratching posts will come in very handy in their cat room.
Bill (not his real name), one of the prisoners who has been making the kennels, has enjoyed being part of the project and is looking forward to the next phase which is to build rabbit hutches, bird aviaries and more dog kennels for the SPCA.
“It’s been fun,” he says. “It gets us out of the unit and keeps us busy. I might get a building job when I get out.”
Michael Murphy has been impressed with the work of the prisoners.
“They are really enthusiastic and have designed the kennels really well – I checked them when it was raining heavily and they weren’t leaking so they’ve put together a great design,” Mr Murphy said.
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