SPCA volunteers call for a private shelter

by Monique Tamminga

Volunteer dog walkers at the soon-to-be-closed Langley SPCA would like to see the municipality open its own animal shelter. “I’d like the Township to go see privately-run municipal shelters like Coquitlam’s, I’d like them to get educated about what it takes to care for animals,” said Langley volunteer co-ordinator Annette Keller, who also sits on the SPCA board of directors as a
volunteer.

Last week, the B.C. SPCA announced it was closing the Langley shelter on March 31, followed by Chilliwack on April 30. The closure is bittersweet for Keller. “It’s good that they are moving away from a sub-standard shelter but here in Langley we’ve built the strongest volunteer dog walking program in the Lower Mainland. I’m saddened that we will disband.”

There are about 20 core volunteers who make sure dogs are walked four to five times a week. This is compared to Surrey, where dogs are lucky to get walked more than once a week, said Keller.

The volunteers have raised thousands of dollars for the SPCA. One recent fundraiser helped the group purchase a shed which they use for grooming the dogs.

“We had a well-oiled machine here, which was important because all the emphasis on cat or dog care had to fall on the volunteers,” she said. Keller is hoping the money the SPCA saves from the closures will go towards hiring a full-time animal care person.

The problem with most of the SPCA-run shelters is the lack of full-time staff who actually care for the animals, she said. “The SPCA staff process paper work, clean kennels, answer phones, but it is not in their job description to be hands-on with the animals, to provide stimulus for them,” she said. That means dogs aren’t let out until a volunteer comes there and walks them. Dogs that are housebroken will often “hold it” for up to 24 hours, she said.

The length a dog stays has increased since the SPCA reduced the number of canines that are euthanized. Now dogs stay up to nine months in a kennel that has no heated floors, she said. Dogs have been injuring their teeth and jowls on the chain link dividers which split open. When volunteers complain, the SPCA hires someone to fix it, but too often it is a “Band-aid” solution, Keller said.

The SPCA is re-inventing itself, focusing its attention on satellite adoption centres, operations in pet stores and fostering. It explains it wants to get away from jail-like shelters.

The animals from the Langley and Chilliwack shelters will be housed in “temporary” places until the Abbotsford shelter is renovated to accommodate the newcomers.

The SPCA-owned shelter is much more spacious than the Langley facility, said Keller. Renovations there will create communal spaces for the dogs to run around, said an SPCA spokesperson. The SPCA will relocate its five paid workers in Langley and the six who work in Chilliwack.

Friends of the Animals (FOTA) believes that rescue groups like themselves will be overwhelmed with animals dumped by owners who aren’t willing to drive the extra distance to Abbotsford. “Rescue groups are bracing themselves,” said one FOTA volunteer. “The Langley community will be hit hard by this.”