On Tuesday August 2, I phoned the Corporate Officer of the Regional District of the North Okanagan to request a meeting about the future sheltering of homeless animals in the North Okanagan. We agreed to meet on August 4 at 3:30. I told Brian Reardon that I would be accompanied by Dave Lemiski DVM, Pat Ellis, dog contract holder with the Regional District, and, I hoped, Pat Raines, the Vernon SPCA Community Council Chair. I told him I was very worried because A Strategic Plan For The British Columbia Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals 2005 to 2008, [which had been approved in principle by the BC SPCA Board of Directors and presented to the Annual General Meeting of the Society on June 18, 2005 in Nanaimo, but never communicated to the Vernon SPCA membership or to the donating public], recommends that the Vernon shelter be designated a seizure centre "bearing in mind the community's needs to continue to make limited use of these facilities in the future".
As it is now, the Vernon SPCA offers only severely limited services. The branch is open to the public just four afternoons a week from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Dozens of callers have told me that the Vernon SPCA will not "come out" for injured or ill cats, even during their limited public hours. People who find injured dogs are routinely told to call dog control.
Low income individuals who cannot afford to euthanize their critically ill or injured pets are told that the SPCA cannot help them. People on limited income with unforeseen, unmanageable vet bills are advised to call the Vernon & District Animal Care Society which the former Vernon SPCA board and many former SPCA members - including several shelter founding members - formed in January 2002.
The Vernon SPCA cannot accommodate all the animals who need shelter right now. For months the branch has been putting unwanted and homeless animals on waiting lists. In July alone, the Vernon & District Animal Care Society admitted 64 cats and kittens who had been turned away by the SPCA. In turn, VDACS itself had to turn away dozens of unwanted cats. Pat Ellis of dog control states that she is euthanizing healthy dogs because for several months the SPCA has told her there is no room for her unclaimed impounded canines. Pat Ellis also expressed concerns that the Vernon SPCA was knowingly adopting out dog-aggressive dogs and telling the new owners to simply keep them away from other dogs.
Because the Vernon SPCA is adopting out unaltered animals it is exacerbating the pet overpopulation problem in the North Okanagan. Some SPCA adopters are approaching VDACS for help neutering or spaying their pets. Others, once they find out the cost of the surgery, are just not bothering. And, of course, the SPCA offers no spay/neuter assistance at all to low income pet owners in the general public.
But, guess what, everybody! President Mary Lou Troman and Kelowna/Vernon Manager Diane McKeown both attended the meeting and explained that all these concerns and complaints are just the fault of poor communications. We have absolutely nothing to worry about. This is essentially what Ms Troman said...
1. The Strategic Action Plan is only a draft and, if adopted by the BC SPCA Board of Directors at their August 20, 2005 meeting, will be a wonderful thing for the North Okanagan. Animal lovers from all across the province and beyond will donate to the abused animals at the Vernon Animal Protection Centre. Well, no that money won't go to help local animals; it's for the abused animals. But local animals will be moved down the valley or to the coast where they'll find homes for them. It's not true that the Plan was not communicated to the local members. The BC SPCA Strategic Planning Committee visited the staff and volunteers at the Vernon shelter who, in turn, were given time to return their feedback to the committee. All the staff and the volunteers were completely behind the plan.
Ms Troman was asked, why weren't Vernon SPCA members informed? She replied that Vernon members were informed because the plan was released at the BC SPCA AGM on June 18 which was held in Nanaimo this year. Of course not many Vernon members would have even heard about the BC SPCA AGM in Nanaimo and certainly few - if any - would have attended. She was grasping at straws.
Ms Troman was asked, why was Life Member Glenn Miller not given a copy of the plan when he requested one at the shelter? No answer to that one.
When will the promised public meeting in Vernon be held? Craig Daniell will be in Vernon on August 30th".
What good is a meeting after the fact? Mary Lou will try to persuade her board to wait until their September meeting to vote on the plan.
2. Inadequate Vernon SPCA services. Ms Troman said that the Vernon SPCA:
1) never turns away an animal,
2) that the Vernon SPCA always helps low income people with the cost of euthanizing their suffering pets,
3) that the Vernon SPCA always responds to injured animals at any hour of any day,
4) that the Vernon SPCA does home checks (but they can't get around to all the homes).
5) As for adopting out aggressive dogs, the Vernon SPCA does not have the time to do temperament testing on all dogs but, after all, we've been handling dogs for over 100 years!
Blame game: Mary Lou Troman also suggested that complaints to Regional District staff about the Vernon SPCA doing nothing for animals could have "other motivations". She greatly admired the work done by VDACS but the Vernon SPCA had only received $11,000 in donations this year. (Note: When the Vernon SPCA was still headed by a local board instead of Ms Troman's board at Head Office, it raised $37,000 during our main campaign from October to November in 2000 alone. That local board also raised a considerable amount of money with lots and lots of fundraising events.)
Ms. Troman and Ms. McKeown were very much on the defensive at this meeting. They can do nothing but deny, deny, deny and try to fall back on the Society's 100 plus years.
I'm really looking forward to Craig's visit later this month! We'll be ready for him!