SHELTER: On Tuesday, March 12, 1968, the McKean County SPCA shelter was still only an idea.

That edition of The Era reported on a presentation the day before by then-city manager Milton Lopus. Milton, who was also a former president of the SPCA, talked about plans to build a shelter in Bradford.

“Since the Dog Act of 1966 was passed by the Legislature, it has been the responsibility of any government unit to seize and detain any dog running loose and to fine the owner,” Lopus said.

The article continued, “In the experience of the city, dog complaints are the second largest category recorded by the police,” he noted. Facing this problem and also realizing that many people were also concerned about the welfare of stray and neglected animals, the city and SPCA instituted joint meetings to review possible solutions.

“A ‘dog pound’ sounds like an execution chamber, he said, and so the proposed facility was designated as an animal shelter and was planned for county wide use,” the article stated.

Here’s a few of the features that plan included: “As designed by Robert Hendryx, the shelter will have a fully flushable cleaning both inside and out and will have gas radiant heating over head in the kennel area to provide heat on the animal level and also quick drying of the floor, Mr. Lopus said.”

The shelter has come along way since the time it was thoughts on paper 50 years ago. In just the past few years the facility has seen further expansions and updates to provide services to local animals.

DERAILMENT: Also around time the shelter was being planned:

The Friday, March 1, 1968, edition of The Era described a train derailment in nearby Cattaraugus County, N.Y.

A caption under a photo of the wreckage stated, “No one was injured, but 26 B & O freight cars lay in heaps of twisted steel after the 76-car train derailed near Ellicottville early Thursday morning.

“Steel, potatoes and flour spilled over the ground when a broken journal sent the cars flying. Walter T. Zeznick of Salamanca was engineer of the freight which was enroute to Salamanca.

“The accident happened just east of the former M. Murphy and Son Lumber Co., now owned by Fitzpatrick and Weller Lumber firm. The big gondolas narrowly missed telephone poles and lumber stacked in the yard. Salvage crews will continue work today.”