The SPCA has finally opened it's new satellite centre in Hobsonville, four years after planning commenced.
Puppies, cats and kittens moved into the centre on July 1 and the doggy daycare is open for business.
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Newshub visited the centre in mid-August and found puppies testing the new dog runs, cats and kittens exploring their new cages and a dog staff boasted was the "best looked after in Auckland".
It's a very different feel to the Mangere centre, with everything newly painted and barely touched by animals.
Floors and walls in the dog runs have been painted with a new tough covering to ensure they're easy to wash down and will stand up to the constant routine of cleaning and housing animals.
The cat adoption area is also different. There are no stainless steel cages, instead, the cats are in plastic cages with plexiglass windows for the public to see through.
Portholes mean the units can be connected and a cat can potentially have the room to move between different areas either vertically or sideways and there are no corners, making them easier to clean.
SPCA northern region general manager Jen Radich told Newshub there are a lot of advantages to being able to design new a centre.
"It's not fancy, but it's robust in the way that it's been set up, so stand up to little doggy claws on floors rather than having something that needs to be replaced pretty quickly."
The new centre can't quite do everything the main base does though.
Small animal and farm adoptions will still be handled out in south Auckland, as will any animal that's sick or injured.
"That's where our hospital is and that's where we have the facilities and capacity to care for those animals," Radich said.
"Any animal that comes into this centre that needs urgent vet care would be taken to a vet immediately, but for the most part, if they are able [they will] be transferred out to Mangere.
"That's where we will look after them. This site is designed to be an adoption and foster centre primarily."
The Hobsonville centre is also a chance for the SPCA to try something new with its purpose-built doggy daycare centre, which will cost $45 per full day and $35 per half day.
When it's operating at capacity, it will be able to look after 60 dogs, but things are still a bit quiet so soon after opening. When Newshub visited, there was a single spaniel having a ball of a time.
Radich joked he was the "best looked after dog in Auckland" before telling Newshub the centre's hoping to create "good doggo citizens".
"All of the equipment that we've got in there we've really thought about how do we ensure that we create good behaviours in dogs," she said.
"We don't have toys that will create resource guarding, we make sure that the play and energy levels are managed so that our dogs have their brains engaged and that they're learning throughout the day. "
Radich said she's it's been a long road for the centre and very grateful to those who supported the organisation along the way.
"Having a centre that we've been able to design from scratch, knowing all the things we know about caring for animals, it has been absolutely amazing," she said.
"We're so thrilled to be able to finally open its doors and really start to make a bigger difference for the animals in Auckland."
Newshub.
