San Ramon Scout Builds Shelter For Animals

SAN RAMON, CA — A lot of people have a love for animals. But not everyone can use that love to build a 6-foot shelter for livestock priced at more than $1,000.

Sixteen-year-old Bransen Tong did just that for his Eagle Scout service project with Boy Scout Troop 84 of San Ramon.

“When the time came to do something for my project, I got in contact with the shelter and they talked about how during wildfires, a lot of animals and livestock are sent there and there is no sun or rain shelter for them,” he said.

Tong’s project to build the structure at the East County Animal Shelter in Dublin put him in charge of every construction detail from beginning to end. He started planning in 2019, just before the pandemic hit.

“At that time, I priced everything out, the project was estimated at $800,” he said.

Fast forward to April 2022 — the cost of his supplies was much more expensive. Tong raised funds among friends and family to get pressure-treated wood, wood planks and sheets of plywood. He also needed supplies to dig the holes for the concrete posts that hold the shelter up.

Digging those holes was a hard, and deceptive, labor of love.

“The ground just looks like nice green grass — but once you dig into it, it’s like hard rock,” said Tong’s mother, Christine.

Still, a group of Scouts and their parents dug deep Saturday and laid the cement. The plan was to have three workdays to complete the shelter. Somehow, the group wrapped it all up in one weekend.

“It felt really good to benefit the animals in the community on top of getting to know my community, bonding with the Scouts who helped me and their parents,” Tong said.

The finished 6-foot shelter has three walls and a roof with a big opening in the front. It can protect animals from the elements and serve as respite for those displaced during wildfires, a season unfortunately quickly approaching.

“It’s timed with wildfires becoming increasingly more common each summer. We cross our fingers we don’t have another big fire, but it is always a threat,” Christine said.

Finishing the project marks the next step in Tong’s road to Eagle Scout, the highest Scout achievement.

“This is something I have been working on for a long time. Seeing it in front of us is a massive relief.”