Animal welfare groups managed to build 45 all-weather dog houses in Smithers on July 6.

The builders hope their feat represented the biggest single day dog house build in British Columbia history.

The Big Build event was jointly organized by the Lakes Animal Friendship Society (LAFS), Vet to Pet Mobile Veterinary Services and the Northwest Animal Shelter Society.

A dozen volunteers from the three groups worked for seven and a half hours to build the houses, the materials for which were donated by the Smithers Lumber Yard.

鈥淲e did have some tremendous donations of woodworking tools for the project. The Options Program in 亚洲天堂 Lake donated a great set of power tools to us and also Julie Hodson from Vanderhoof donated a table saw,鈥� as Alistair Schroff, one of the founders of LAFS told Lakes District 亚洲天堂.

The houses were built according to the Hofer House design, named after Dirk Hofer, an industrial arts teacher at Lakes District Secondary School in 亚洲天堂 Lake.

Hofer鈥檚 work featured a single sheet of plywood and some other materials, far simpler than LAFS鈥� previous design, which produced houses that were 鈥渂ig, heavy and expensive,鈥� according to .

鈥淭he College of New Caledonia residential building maintenance program expanded on the concept by creating 鈥榬eady to assemble鈥� flat packs of dog houses that can be transported where they are needed,鈥� LAFS said.

For almost a decade, more than 250 Hofer Houses have been built for dogs, cats, rabbits and other animals and given out across B.C. and as far away as Ontario and Alabama.

Schroff said he鈥檚 confident their build day set a new record, though he hasn鈥檛 yet contacted the Guinness World Records to certify that it was the biggest in provincial history.

鈥淢ost dog house builds we have been involved with are school projects that would take place over multiple days, and I think the most that have been built in a particular class project is around 30. The key here is [that it鈥檚] a single day,鈥� he explained.

鈥淲e hope that our record falls soon after it is made, and challenge other groups to get involved in making shelters for needy critters.鈥�

All the newly built houses will be donated people and communities that need them.

鈥淰et to Pet Mobile will soon be taking some kits to Witset as part of a veterinary outreach visit. Others will go with her and her team in their travels to underserved communities across the region. Northwest Animal Shelter Society will hang onto kits for animals in their service area which runs from Kitwanga to Houston. LAFS brought twenty kits back for animals in the Lakes District and surrounding communities.鈥�

House plans, instructions and materials charts are available on LAFS鈥� website http://www.lakesanimalfriendship.ca.

Blair McBride

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