SPCA says CEO not fired

By Nicholas Riley

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals may be parting ways with its top dog this week, but according to the society, Lower Mainland media are barking up the wrong tree looking for a scandal. SPCA spokesperson Lorie Chortyk also said the staffing change - the departure of CEO Doug Brimacombe - won't have any effect on plans for the closing of the aging Maple Ridge shelter in favour of a large regional shelter planned for the Tri Cities area.

"Probably the truth will not be nearly as exciting as it's being made out to be...it's amicable," Chortyk, manager of communications for the SPCA, said in an interview with The TIMES on Monday after media reports that the CEO of the SPCA had been "fired." She added nothing she has read in newspapers through the weekend has been "even close to accurate," and explained that it is all the result of a internal staff memo issued last week.

"We sent a notice to the staff on Friday letting them know that it was Doug (Brimacombe)'s last day," she said, adding the CEO and the SPCA board of directors were still negotiating terms. She said there will be an official new release later this week once negotiations are complete.

"There is no scandal here, it's just that we're not able to comment on the situation until (the board) formally announce what they're doing," she said. "We didn't ever say that he was fired."