CURRENT CONDITIONS AND ANALYSIS:

After 18 years of high volume use and commensurate maintenance, SpokAnimal's current kennel system is inadequate and obsolete. Unfortunately, the inadequacies inherent in the kennel's design have a measurable impact in every area of the shelter's operation. Often, these inadequacies can mean life or death for an orphaned or abandoned dog.

Chain link kennel systems, although more than adequate for home kennel use, prove to be a liability in an 'open kennel' application such as ours. Because of the vary nature of the overlapping, intertwined links of fencing material, viruses such as Parvo are offered an excellent hiding place. Accepted methods of cleaning from high pressure washers to manually scrubbing the links with heavy bristled brushes, are never thorough enough. The primary cleaning objective being to remove any/all solid debris, potentially impacted between these links.

As stated, the kennel banks each sit upon elevated platforms. Again, these platform frames are constructed out of dimensional lumber and chipboard. The platforms have been wrapped in a fiberglass shell. After almost 20 years of calking and maintenance, this fiberglass shell has invariably separated from the chipboard frames on both kennel banks.

Over time, moisture has been absorbed into the porous chipboard underneath, initiating from the point where the platforms meet the floor. Primarily, this absorption is responsible for the ongoing disintegration of the chipboard substrate throughout the platforms. Additional concerns of import are an ever-present odor of mold and the possible absorption and retention of parvovirus.

The platforms feature an 'open trough' drainage system running their entire length. (See image, right). All individual kennels on both sides of the kennel bank share this single open-trough.

Our kennels are cleaned and sterilized each morning using either a bleach and water combination or a chemical dilution specifically designed to kill parvovirus. After the appropriate contact time, the solution is then rinsed down the open trough at the back of the
kennel(s).

Although this approach has proven to be effective for the most part, the potential still exists that a live parvovirus could be spread from one animal to another via these open troughs. Because of this potentiality, the 'open trough' design is avoided, if at all possible, in the open kennel construction of today.

(Total kennels sharing open trough ~= 30 per bank.)

Industry wide design changes have been instituted which reflect what is now generally understood about the transmission of potentially fatal viruses, such as Parvovirus, in open kennel environments. These changes feature solid kennel walls between animals and independent drainage as opposed to an 'open trough' designs.

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