Volunteer greeters at 'odourless' SPCA

Surrey Now
January 28/06
Marisa Babic

Next time you walk into the Surrey SPCA and are met by a door greeter, don't think you've taken a wrong turn and ended up at Wal-Mart.

Volunteer greeters are some of the many innovations being made at the city's animal shelter by its new boss.

Tanya Firmage, who stepped into the manager's shoes three months ago, is wasting no time making changes and putting her personal stamp on the region's busiest animal shelter. The Surrey SPCA handles about 4,000 animals a year.

Firmage, who comes from Ontario, says she's determined to create a "model" animal shelter in Surrey that will lead others in the region to copy its style.

"I have very high standards and I think we can create a community program for animals in Surrey that will be the envy of other regions," Firmage says.

Firmage's ambitious plans include operating an "odourless" shelter - no more of that ripe smell to greet visitors as soon as they open the shelter's door.

Cleaning things up, she notes, will reduce spread of disease among the animals and make visits more pleasant for the public.

"I have extremely high standards. Anybody who knows me knows that my shelter is a place where you can come and you don't automatically walk in and say, 'E-u-u-u-w, it stinks here.'

"People assume that shelters are dirty, dingy places and smell like animals but it doesn't have to be that way. I know that because I've had success in other shelters and I plan to do the same here in Surrey."

She also plans to expand community partnerships and pursue a more aggressive fundraising strategy to help raise cash for SPCA programs and its new facility.

Other elements of Firmage's model shelter will be expanded cruelty investigations, new volunteer programs and a higher profile in the community.

published on 01/28/2006