NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul was in town Friday, to announce new state funding for the Niagara County SPCA.
A new surgical unit will be constructed with help from a $500,000 state grant. The surgeries were previously being performed in a trailer.
The SPCA trailer limited them to operating only on animals weighing under 50 pounds.
Hochul said, "If you're a veterinarian and the staff and others involved and this poor animal, looking in need of surgery in weather conditions like today or last week, that's inhumane.”
Tim Brennan, the Executive Director for the SPCA of Niagara said this is the largest grant the shelter has ever received. "The half-million dollar grant is truly transformative for the shelter... it's very small, you barely have room to turn around in, in there. And our staff has been doing a lot with so little for so long."
Brennan says the shelter will also continue to raise funds in the community for the improvements.