Surrey Leader,
Dec 8/02
By Joe Millican
A lobby group that wants to reform the B.C. SPCA has been blasted by the animal protection agency after a letter was sent to the region’s media.
Members of Citizens Yell for Accountability (CYA) claimed in the letter that the number of staff at the Vancouver-based head office has tripled, while direct care services to animals have dropped.
CYA members – many of whom are previous SPCA volunteers – also suggest the SPCA is planning clinic closures in Vancouver and Victoria.
The SPCA flatly denies the claims.
“The society has considered legal action against CYA because of the damage done by their false statements against the society and individuals within the SPCA,” spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk said.

CHORTYK SAID THE BOARD DECIDED AGAINST THESE MEASURES AS THE LEGAL COSTS WOULD DIRECT FUNDS AWAY FROM THE ANIMALS IN SPCA CARE.

“However, we remain concerned about their (CYA’s) lack of accountability and their continued efforts to discredit the work being done on behalf of animals by the SPCA.”
In regard to questions about staff numbers, Chortyk says eight new positions were created to respond to recommendations made in a province-wide community consultation and strategic plan.
These focus on humane education and volunteer development, she said.
However, she says the new jobs were offset by vacant positions that were not filled, making the overall administration costs slightly lower than last year.
“With regard to the closure of the clinics, there is no substance to this statement at all,” she added.
The CYA stands by its claims, sending a series of internal SPCA memos to The Leader that members said they received while volunteering for the SPCA.
Other information was taken from SPCA websites that could only be accessed via a password, said CYA secretary/treasurer Maria Soroski.
One document, allegedly taken from one of the websites, compares the number of “Head Office Staff” between 1996 and 2002. The 1996 list contains nine names, while the 2002 list contains 36.
Chortyk said some names were not based at the Vancouver office and were not new appointments.
“It looks like they have just listed the names of 36 employees from around the province,” she said.
In terms of animal care, the CYA says a $200 cap was put on the medical treatment of a particular animal.
An internal SPCA memo, allegedly written by CEO Doug Brimacombe in March, estimated the SPCA cares for approximately 7,000 injured animals each year in B.C.
“As there will be additional animals to attend to we recommend that a cumulative average of $200 per animal be spent on medical treatment,” the document reads.
Chortyk says this has been misinterpreted by the CYA.
“We regularly spend thousands of dollars on stray animals,” she said.
CYA vice-president Heather Petitt said members have been “put off” in the past by the threat of court action.
However, she said this is not because they are unable to substantiate their claims.
“It is just because of the money,” she replied. “We are just a bunch of volunteers and it costs so much to defend yourself.”
She also denied the group has an “axe to grind” against the SPCA. “We are not out to destroy the SPCA, we are out to reform it,” she said.
The CYA is lobbying for an independent ombudsman to oversee the running of the SPCA.

AAS's response to the Surrey Leader:

Dec 9/02
Editor,
Surrey Leader

BC SPCA spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk says (on why the SPCA decided not to sue the directors of CYA, a web site critical of the SPCA), that "the legal costs would direct funds way from animals in SPCA care".

Whoa! Chortyk knows that the SPCA first paid the big, expensive law firm of Owen Bird to try to shut down the Animal Advocates Society of BC's web site, and when that failed (because AAS's claims are substantiated), it hired the even bigger firm of Lawson Lundell to try to force AAS's web host into shutting down our site. In fact, this particular attempt to silence a critic has been going on since October 21, and the bills must be really mounting up now!

It's this kind of dishonesty and this kind of self-serving, not animal -serving, that got the SPCA into such hot water in the first place.

Judy Stone
President, Animal Advocates Society of BC