Saturday, November 30, 2002

Harbour City Star
A publication of Nanaimo Daily News

Letter to the Editor

BCSPCA administration is too costly

Dear Editor,

While local SPCA shelter workers and volunteers struggle to raise funds intended to help animals in need, the administration costs of BC SPCA Head Office continue to grow at an alarming rate.

Head Office is now housed in a costly building, administrative positions have tripled over the past three years. Each new position created has come with a hefty salary and benefits package. The CEO alone is paid over $100 000 per year. These administrators enjoy retreats at Harrison Hot Springs and Manning Park. What’s wrong with the fancy new buildings for their meetings?

The new policy is that funds raised in communities be submitted to Head Office for eventual re-distribution to provincial shelters. How many of these hard won dollars are actually returned to your local shelter?

BC SPCA is a unique charitable organization in that it is not subject to the scrutiny and accountability under which most charities operate. Why?

BC SPCA has been repeatedly asked to answer some very basic questions. Do they intend to close spay/neuter clinics in Vancouver and Victoria? Do they intend to close any BC SPCA shelters currently operating in BC? What percentage of donations and legacies are spent to directly care for animals and what percentage is spent on administration?

None of these and other direct questions have enjoyed a response.

With the host of administrators now in place within the Home Office, BC SPCA should be running like a well-oiled machine but it is not. Local shelters are reduced to begging for food and supplies to provide for their animals. Shelters in Many BC communities are lacking even the most basic comforts for their animals.

Do not give up on your local shelter; they need your help more than ever. When we donate to the BC SPCA should we not have the right to know how and where our dollars are being spent? The animals cannot ask, we must demand answers for them.

Bev Davis
Parksville