Dog house as a nuisance

Animal welfare association invites you to “botched construction live”

Dogs were only in the new house for one press event, otherwise it was empty.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

At a specially arranged open day in the new dog house at the Mentlberg animal shelter in Innsbruck, members will be given a demonstration of the defects this coming Saturday (January 18). The civil proceedings against Strabag will continue in February and the construction company is defending itself.

It should have been the showcase project par excellence - instead, the Animal Protection Association for Tyrol has identified extensive and annoying deficiencies in the 2.5 million euro construction project. As a preliminary highlight, the contractor Strabag and representatives of the association, including lawyers, met at a civil trial in Innsbruck in November.

Chairwoman Veronika Rom-Erhard in the premises, which she considers unsuitable.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

13 defects including sub-items
As reported, the construction company still wants 385,000 from the animal welfare association. The latter listed 13 defects including sub-issues and does not want to pay. One of the sticking points are screeds without a gradient in the dog rooms, where the water does not drain into the gullies.

Strabag argues, among other things, that there was a lack of regular contact persons due to the change in the management of the association.

"Expensive, but the building does not meet the requirements"
In the members' magazine "Tierschutz Kurier", chairwoman Veronika Rom-Erhard announces that they will now take action themselves to rectify the most serious deficiencies. Next Saturday (2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.), around 20,000 members are invited to come and see for themselves.

"A picture of a dog house that was expensive, but does not offer the conditions to house dogs in a species-appropriate and, above all, animal welfare-compliant manner," says the chairwoman.

During the continuation of the trial in February, the first step will be to find out what exact specifications the former association management gave the construction company.