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A new look at animal services
Maple Ridge News B.C
Simone Ponne/THE NEWS

Bart, a neutered catahoula-leopard mix, is up for adoption.

By Phil Melnychuk
Staff Reporter

Aug 11 2007

Bart could use a friend.

The gangly catahoula-leopard dog mix resembles a hunting hound, is all legs and looks like he could run like the wind. But but there he sat, cooped up, doing time at the local pound.

Lobo was in the joint for the same reason.

No one wanted him.

The stray lab-pit bull mix is a good-natured guy and sits quietly, waiting for his daily walk by a good-hearted SPCA volunteer, so he could stretch his legs for a few minutes.

Both have been at the Maple Ridge SPCA for a month or so, waiting for good homes.

And both have a mark against them: they're black, mostly.

"Black dogs get adopted last," said a volunteer at the SPCA.

The shelter, which also serves Pitt Meadows, is in for some interesting times. While new houses spring up across Jackson Road and more people move in, the complaints about barking dogs could increase.

And district council is wondering whether it wants to renew its contract with the B.C. SPCA, in which the animal welfare group operates the shelter, answers calls about loose and biting dogs and sells dog licences, as well.

On the other hand, the district has included $1.5 million in its financial plan for a new building to replace the aging, weathered kennels that have been there since the 1960s.

Council will get an idea of its options when it looks at a report Coun. Craig Speirs is writing.

"We've need to change how we deal with animal services," Speirs said Thursday.

Currently, only about half the dogs are licensed, resulting in a cost to the district of about $200,000 a year.

Why not borrow some ideas from Calgary, which has an animal control system that makes money for the city and has buy-in from residents?

Speirs said by adding value to the services one gets from buying a dog licence, more people will buy a licence.

In Calgary, for instance, if a pet needs a place to stay for a few days because of a family crisis, the pound will include that as one of the privileges of buying a licence.

The pound also delivers lost dogs to their owners, another benefit of buying a licence.

Speirs is recommending that enforcement of some of the animal control duties be done by the district, adding the "SPCA is not comfortable with enforcement."

Building a new shelter is the time to make those changes. "To move forward, we kind of have to change how the whole thing operates."

Having a system in which most people licence their dogs will improve confidence in the system, he said.

He noted Calgary has even passed a cat bylaw, requiring them to be licenced and so far has about 27,000 of 100,000 Cowtown cats licenced, although he doesn't favour such a bylaw here.

"To me, that's just endemic of how they sold responsible pet ownership."

Speirs said the district, possibly by also serving Pitt Meadows and Mission, could make a profit on its animal services.

SPCA branch manager Hugh Nichols pointed out that if the SPCA is no longer on the road doing enforcement, other services, such as retrieving injured animals, could suffer.

He disagrees with Speirs's claim that the SPCA is not comfortable doing bylaw enforcement. That's part of encouraging responsible pet ownership, he said.

"Absolutely. We've been doing it for years."

He said if the licencing and bylaw control functions are taken away from the SPCA, it could mean the loss of three jobs and possibly the loss of other services the society offers.

He also noted, the SPCA already offers compassionate boarding and pointed out that a District of Maple Ridge staff report recommends keeping the SPCA.

Speirs agrees, though, that the SPCA needs a new building and it has to remain in its current location because it would be too difficult to get it into another neighbourhood.

"That facility reflects a horror show. It's a really, really poor facility."

Dog walkers, foster homes needed

Wanted: Dog walkers.

And feline foster homes.

While the Maple Ridge SPCA's future is up in the air, staff at the ramshackle location on Jackson Road and 102nd Avenue Thursday were more worried about rounding up enough volunteers that afternoon to give dogs a short walk and break from their four walls.

Shannon Kowal was busy on the phone trying to get some stand-in volunteers to help out.

Giving the dogs a break, hopefully twice a day, is a huge stress relief for the animals, points out one volunteer.

Sometimes, 20 dog walkers can show up, in which case all the pooches get out, or sometimes just five volunteers show up.

Long-time volunteer Joyce Marhoff helps out by matching the right dog with the right adoptive family.

But she agrees, it has to be the right fit.

"We never force a dog on anybody as much as they need a home."

Asked if she has a favourite, of the eight dogs currently waiting for homes and Marhoff says she loves them all.

She rarely calls them by their names though, instead referring to them as "Sweetheart" and "Angel."

"I just love it, love it. I'd come here everyday if I could."

The SPCA is always looking for more people to help with the dog walking. To become a dog walker, you fill out a form and take an hour and a half orientation course. After that, it's just a matter of showing up at certain times in the afternoon, whenever the volunteer has the time.

"We're desperate for dog walkers," Marhoff said, although you should be fairly strong, she notes, because some of the dogs are.

She added her voice to the call for a new building. "We desperately need a new shelter. It's awful. We have wonderful staff. We've got the best staff we had for a long time."

The shelter also needs temporary or permanent homes for the cats of all descriptions it's currently housing.