Recently Mr William Smith left $400,000 to the Victoria SPCA for the 'care' of cats. The SPCA announced that it would use $300,000 of Mr Smith's bequest for low-income cat spay and neuter only, spending $50,000 per year in a program it named the Ginger Fund after Mr Smith's cat.

Low-income cat-owners pay the SPCA $50 for a spay. The SPCA reimburses the vet $75 so the SPCA's share turns out to be $25, half as much as what the cat's owner pays. Low-income cat-owners pay $30 for a cat neuter. The SPCA reimburses the vet $45 so the SPCA's share is $15.

Applicants have to personally get to the SPCA to prove they are poor enough, they can't just phone. This can be an insurmountable impediment to the very poor or Natives. It is possible that some cat-owners will not take their cat in to be sterilized if some of the vets insist that vaccinations must be done first. In an email to a cat rescue group, Victoria SPCA manager Penny Stone said the SPCA won't pay for anything extra and this has been confirmed by some of the participating vets. Getting vaccines done first, if the poor could afford to pay another $40 to $60 for them, means two trips to the vet. So there is a real concern that the truly needy won't be able to use the Ginger Fund.

If the vet discovers that there is any other medical condition that has to be treated, the SPCA will refuse to pay for that. "This will only be for spay /neuter, no other medical procedures will be included." is what the manager wrote to a cat rescue group. (If 'care' does not cover needed health care, what did Mr Smith mean by 'care'?) So if the cat comes in with fleas or worms or an infected eye or ear mites, then the low-income owner must pay or the cat goes home as-is.

Unless another animal welfare organization will pay. That is just what has already happened.

Greater Victoria Animal Crusaders has quietly been shouldering the load for cat spay and neuter and other medical conditions for thirty years. So when one of the cats, that came in under the SPCA's Ginger Fund, had blood in its urine, and it was known that the SPCA would not pay for any "extras", the vet knew to call on GVAC, and of course, GVAC came through.

For thirty years GVAC has helped the pets of Victoria's poor by making spaying and neutering easy and by helping with the vet bills. And now GVAC is holding veterinary clinics for the pets of street people too. It is quiet little GVAC that is doing the real work of animal welfare in Victoria, spending between $30,000 and $60,000 or more per year as funds permit. It's time animal-lovers in Victoria heard more about GVAC.