Distressed by comments

I was a volunteer foster parent for the Sunshine Coast SPCA for five years.

The staff and previous managers consistently displayed caring, compassion, expertise and support for the animals and foster parents. They were always available for consultation about health and behavioural issues of the foster animals.
The standards of care and cleanliness at the shelter were uppermost, and the environment was carefully managed to create a nurturing situation for the animals awaiting adoption. No animals ever got sick from being allowed out of their cages to play and express normal behaviours.
No cat was ever injured due to conflicts with other animals, because the staff were skilled at evaluating which animals could share the space. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Animals have been injured at the shelter.
It distressed me to see the former staff criticized in the paper by a provincial SPCA spokesperson who does not know their work ethic, expertise or compassion.
I recently fostered three kittens selected by a visiting manager who gave me kittens from two litters, while leaving litter mates behind, three to a cage. This careless selection caused undue stress on one kitten who had difficulty adjusting to the changes from the Kamloops to the West Van shelter and then to my home without his siblings. I was appalled at other comments that indicated a lack of caring and concern for the animals and wrote a letter to the community advisory committee about my experiences. When I found out they had resigned I forwarded my letter to the provincial SPCA and am waiting for a response.
Carol Brown
Halfmoon Bay

Salute, sadness for volunteers
Editor:
I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to Christine Wood and Coast Reporter for the article about the problems at the local SPCA shelter.
The people of the Sunshine Coast community care deeply for the animals and deserve to know what takes place there.
The SPCA as a corporate entity resides here by the goodwill of the Sunshine Coast community, is situated on land owned by the SCRD and is supported by the donors' money.
Therefore, it should be held accountable for any policies and decisions that the management chooses to enforce, which includes both the treatment of animals entrusted to the care of SPCA and the treatment of caregivers, staff and volunteers alike.
As Dagmar Schulze has pointed out in the letter to this paper (June 30), it is the SPCA's mandate to respond to emergencies in a timely fashion, something that the community has the right to expect.
As a former volunteer of over 11 years, I was privileged to assist the most amazing, incredible staff any shelter could have hoped to have, a most dedicated, compassionate, experienced and wise group of people, who were all driven away by the intolerable conditions created in the past few month.
I salute them and I grieve to see the passing of something so special!
Tiamath Lemay
Gibsons

Story merely tip of the iceberg
Editor:
After reading Christine Wood's story (Coast Reporter, Sept. 1), I felt compelled to write. I was one of the volunteers who quit but was not involved in the interview by Ms. Wood. As a witness to many of the questionable actions of the new shelter manager, I am appalled but not surprised at the quoted comments of SPCA director of communications Lori Chortyk. To try to pass off the problems experienced by the staff and volunteers as merely resistance to new management is unfair and untrue.
Contrary to what Ms. Chortyk may think, it was the staff, not the volunteers, who ran the Sunshine Coast shelter, sometimes for many months without a manager. The shelter was very short-staffed, and the former employees were often there unpaid, long past their working hours, on their days off, etc. The staff were very particular about ensuring that volunteers were properly trained, and the volunteers performed their tasks in accordance with staff's instructions.
The staff were well-liked and respected and, prior to the arrival of the new manager, the shelter was a busy, welcoming place to volunteer. Staff and volunteers made every effort to make the animals as comfortable as possible. The level of care and expertise the staff demonstrated was simply amazing.
The information contained in Ms Wood’s article is merely the tip of the iceberg regarding the treatment the staff and volunteers were subjected to by the new manager.
To no longer have Tim, Sandi, Elizabeth, Alan and the many dedicated volunteers working for the animals on the Sunshine Coast is a huge loss to the community and to the animals.
Lorene Story,
Gibsons

A grave loss of credibility
Editor:
It was with great sadness that I read about the crisis at the Wilson Creek SPCA. Ultimately the animals will suffer from the loss of such experienced and ethical personnel.
I am also very sad that the BCSPCA has lost such fine staff and volunteers, some of whom have worked for over a decade in animal welfare. The former staff and volunteers were extraordinary in a very difficult and important job. They are knowledgeable, compassionate and dedicated and hold irreplaceable hands-on experience in animal care.
I can only imagine how stressful it must have been in order for people of such high calibre to resign en masse.
I believe this shake-up has caused a grave loss of credibility for the BCSPCA on the Sunshine Coast I believe it is time that we look for other options to house abandoned, stray and abused animals. The extremely successful Happy Cat Haven run by Violet Winegarden is a good model. We need a shelter that reflects community values and uses community funding in a transparent and local fashion.
Barbara DeMott
Madeira Park

Acting out of love toward animals

Editor:
For 23 volunteers and employees to simultane¬ously leave the SPCA there must be something very, very amiss—not just adjust¬ing to a new manager.

They left because of the actions taken that prevent¬ed them from behaving in a loving way to those in their care. They spoke out with that love. How long will it take before the new workers come to that realization?

Carrie Zadrazil
Gibsons