Cat Fight
By Darah Hansen
dhansen@richmond-news.com

The SPCA is poised to be ousted as the official animal caretaker in the City of Richmond after a not-for-profit animal-welfare group made its own eleventh-hour pitch for the shelter contract earlier this week. “We’re asking you, on behalf of all the animal-loving people of Richmond and all the animals that might end up (at the SPCA-run shelter), to consider us as an alternative:’ Carol Reichert, president of Richmond Homeless Cats (RHC), told city council in a presentation Wednesday “We are more compassionate and caring, there will always be enough money, we would improve community service ... and there would be no more killing:’ she said.

RHC’s bid came just as the SPCA and city officials were in the final stages of inking a three-year, $166,000-a-year deal to run the animal shelter on No. 5 Road. The SPCA has been in charge of the shelter which takes in and adopts out homeless and stray animals for more than 20 years in Richmond. But, as of Wednesday, city council suspended negotiations in favour of looking further into Reichert’s proposal. “I’m very concerned about some of the issues that were brought up today,” said Coun. Bill McNulty, in reference to shelter kill and adoptions statistics quoted by Reichert. B.C. SPCA CEO Craig Daniells said news of the city’s decision has left him “flabbergasted ... especially having not got a single message on the subject from the City of Richmond itself.” “I’ve been working on the assumption for more than a month now that we had a contract.” Daniells said.

Richmond Homeless Cats is a volunteer run organization, which cares for some 800 cats out of an elaborate indoor-outdoor shelter on No. 6 Road. Reichert herself started the group out of her own home 15 years ago to deal with the city’s feral felines. Over the years. the organization has expanded to what Reichert calls the largest cat sanctuary in North America, with 100 volunteers staffing the facility seven days a week, Reichert said. In her presentation, Reichert said many of the cats at her shelter were rescues from the Richmond SPCA, which, she sai4 chooses the cheaper option of euthanasia over more expensive medical or behaviour treatment for many of its animals. Richmond Homeless Cats euthanizes its animals only when old age or disease has rendered all other options useless. The SPCA shares a policy of zero euthanasia for “healthy or adoptable animals”; but animals deemed aggressive or sick are killed. Last year, 34 cats were euthanized and 36 dogs at the Richmond shelter.

In an interview in August, Dr Jamie Lawson, chief animal health officer with the B.C. SPCA, said money — or lack of it — makes it impossible to save every animal life. “There are people who believe that absolutely every life must be saved. The fact is we can’t do that. We don’t have the funds to do that,” he said. Reichert, however, said her society can — and will — do just that. On Wednesday she vowed to put that policy into practice for cats, dogs and other pets in Richmond should her group win the shelter contract. She said the SPCA spends too much of its money on union wages for shelter staff. (About $12 million of the society’s $20 million province-wide budget is expended on wages).

“Never is the life of the animal a priority;’ she said. Daniells said he believes the SPCA has done a good job in Richmond and other municipalities where the society holds shelter and bylaw-enforcement contracts. He said highly trained staff, public education and in-house vet care (to the tune of $3 million annually), provide “quality service” to both animals and their human supporters. In Richmond, he added, the SPCA’s province-wide program of transferring animals to increase their chances of adoption has saved the lives of several animals, particularly pitbulls. The City of Richmond currently has a bylaw prohibiting the adoption of pitbulls, however, the SPCA, said Daniells, doesn’t agree with “breed-specific bans” and sends adoptable dogs out to other shelters. The SPCA and the city have been working without a contract since December of 2003. The previous agreement saw the society funded at a rate of $268,000 annually, which included running the city-owned shelter facility and bylaw enforcement for animal complaints. Last year, the city decided to take back the bylaw powers after barking dogs became a hotbutton issue locally This week, city staff were directed to conduct a review of Reichert’s proposal, including full financial disclosure, and provide council with a comparison to the SPCA bid within the next three weeks. Should it lose the contract, Daniells said the SPCA would continue to operate within Richmond at its own private facility, specifically to investigate and prevent animal cruelty. In the Lower Mainland, several municipalities have chosen private organizations over the SPCA for animal control including Langley, Abbotsford and Coquitlam.