Leitrim Animal Welfare Centre has been left devastated after a fire destroyed one of its main buildings.

The fire broke out in a cabin at the centre which housed an office, cattery and veterinary room.

The centre is located at Barraghmore, Drumkeerin.

The office space was used to document all animal records and the day-to-day administration of the centre while the veterinary room is an essential dedicated space for the care and treatment of animals at the centre.

The cattery, a safe indoor accommodation for cats and kittens coming into their care, was also damaged.

The fire was brought under control quickly, but the cabin is no longer safe to use.

The charity made a post on Facebook detailing the fire and a spokesperson said the charity has been left with no option but to replace the cabin.

 “After looking at our options, the cost of repairing the existing building simply wouldn’t represent good value.

“The safer and more financially sensible option is to remove it and replace it with a new building.”

Leitrim Animal Welfare Centre provides dog warden services under a service contract for Leitrim County Council.

The charity said losing the cattery has been particularly difficult.

“Every day we receive calls from people looking for help, cats needing to be surrendered, strays, unwanted litters, kittens and cats whose circumstances have suddenly changed.

“Right now, we simply don’t have a safe cattery in which to house them.

“We know how upsetting it can be when someone desperately needs help and we have to explain that we cannot take their cat.

“Unfortunately, we have had some people become frustrated with our staff when we’ve had to say no.

“We aren’t refusing because we don’t want to help.

“We physically don’t have a safe cattery to put another cat into.

“At the same time, so many people have been incredibly patient, kind and understanding when we’ve explained what has happened.

“To every single person who has shown our team that understanding, thank you. It means more than you know,” said the spokesperson.

The charity said the cost of a replacement building is “significant and unplanned” and a GoFundMe page has been launched to help fund the works.

The money raised will be used to remove the damaged and unsafe building and replace it with a safe new cabin.

A spokesperson continued, “We have already had to look at our finances and rearrange funding that had been intended for other areas of our work but ultimately, we need our building back.

“We need our office back, we need our veterinary room back and we desperately need our cattery back.

“We are asking our wonderful community to help us rebuild.

“Every €5, €10, €20 or €50 donated gets us one step closer to replacing what we’ve lost and reopening these essential facilities.

“We don’t need anything extravagant.

“We just need a safe, practical building that allows us to get back to doing what we’re here to do efficiently, helping animals.

“This is a setback we never expected, and an expense we certainly didn’t plan for,” concluded the spokesperson.

For more information, visit the Leitrim Animal Welfare Centre on Facebook.