Tailor-made help: Panattoni BTS and Dekpol Budownictwo support an animal shelter as part of a new project by the developer

The Panattoni BTS department is beginning a long-term programme to help a shelter for homeless animals. The team is to work with its clients and general contractors in the locations where its bespoke projects are developed to support centres in need to provide asylum for animals that have suffered abuse. The pilot project is helping the OTOZ Animals shelter in Tczew, where the company is currently building a complex for Flex with Dekpol Budownictwo acting as the general contractor.

Currently in Poland, around 230 animal shelters operate, most of which are run by local authorities, while some are managed by companies and by animal welfare charities. According to a report by the Main Veterinary Inspectorate in 2020, 92,242 dogs and 32,507 cats were in shelters. The creation of shelters is one basic form of help for domestic animals. Abandoned animals find not only safe shelter but also complete medical and behavioural care in these centres. Shelters are not their final home, but above all they provide an opportunity for adoption and for a better new life for animals that have met with misfortune. Although in most cases, their primary needs are met, many of these shelters require serious support to be able to properly fulfil their unusually important mission.

Panattoni BTS is not indifferent to the fate of such homeless animals. On its own initiative, the team that is involved on an everyday basis in the built to suit construction of industrial space has set up a programme, from which shelters located nearby a given project may benefit from. The engagement of both clients and general contractors allows for funds to be raised and it also provides the technical means for buildings to be constructed or renovated.

”Adoption is not the only form of help for homeless, abandoned or cruelly abused animals. Since we develop projects throughout Poland, we can also assist in those places animals need this help. What we first do is we research the area and we look for smaller organisations that are often weaker or generally receive no subsidies without the regular assistance that larger shelters have access to. Consulting with the managers of such centres, we are able to define what their most urgent needs are and assess what we can do. Next we draw up a plan of action.” says Karolina Kukulska, BTS Marketing Manager at Panattoni. “In the case of the shelter in Tczew, while we were doing the local research, we discovered that the old roofing was in a poor state and no longer served its function. It required immediate renovation. As a result of our superb and open partnership with Dekpol Budownictwo our general contractor, the shelter was given new roofing before the holiday period,” adds Tomasz Harasimowicz, BTS Project Manager at Panattoni.

The renovation of the venture. Tczew shelter was provided pro bono by Dekpol Budownictwo, which together with Panattoni jointly funded the venture. As well as the construction work, the OTOZ Animals shelter in Tczew also gained support in the form of purchases made by Panattoni, Dekpol Budownictwo and Flex. Goods that were urgently required worth over EUR 1,000 were handed over directly to the shelter for its own use.

“When Panattoni BTS proposed that we work jointly to support a local shelter, we did not hesitate. One of the main values of our firm is responsibility and we are pleased that we were able to help further this honourable cause, this time jointly supporting animals in need. This is not the first time we have supported the Tczew community and it certainly will not be the last time we do so in this region.  Thank you to all the workers who took part. I am convinced that together we will continue, among other things, to do much more good for homeless animals,” says, Michał Skowron, the CEO of Dekpol Budownictwo.

Importantly the support of Panattoni BTS for the animal shelter in Tczew will be long-term and is to include further investments. The latest provision of assistance will be for a shelter in Boguchwal near Rzeszów, where new pavements are to be laid with cobble stone, new entrance gates are to be built as well as a new pens while the land is also to be levelled with  new topsoil.  Panattoni BTS is also preparing to help a shelter in Żary. The local area research will take place in January to identify the needs of a shelter in Korabiewice.

“Behind every one of our development projects we set up there are people with their passions and experience. I am proud that in this case the team’s sensitivities and enthusiasm have led not only to our business activities but also to creating a long-term plan to support shelters in the locations where our BTS developments are built,” says Marek Foryński, BTS Managing Director at Panattoni.