The City of Port Coquitlam is very naive to think that financial problems with the SPCA are all they need to focus on. The Coquitlam SPCA on Pipeline Rd is possibly the worst facility the BCSPCA has, and yet Port Coquitlam chose to renew their contract and use tax payers money to send their stray animals to the place one Coquitlam Councilor called "Auschwitz". Contrast this decrepit, cold, run-down facility that is begging for volunteers and dog walkers (would you want to go there each week?) with the new municipal shelter in Coquitlam that has been referred to as "the spa" by some, with heated floors and all the comforts a stray animal could ever want. They have a waiting list for would-be volunteers, and a near-no kill policy. They also have an adoption record of almost 100% for both cats and dogs. Port Coquitlam is saving about $75,000 per year by using the SPCA as their pound contractor instead of paying Coquitlam to do it (like Port Moody does), but my goodness are they ever getting what they pay for! Perhaps a financial audit will satisfy Port Coquitlam Council, but how do they intend to audit the quality of care they are paying for in the first place?

Consider this:
From the web site http://www.ibc.com.au/law.cfm

The Law of Business
By John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey.

It is unwise to pay too much, but it is also unwise to pay too little.

When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all.

When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought is incapable of doing the thing you bought it to do.

The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot...

It can't be done.

If you deal with the lowest bidder it is well to add something for the risk you run.

And if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better."