SPCA says it regrets upsetting volunteer

By Lisa Morry - lmorry@chilliwacktimes.com

The B.C. SPCA says it's going to make Ena Vermerris happy or it's going to give her her money back.

Vermerris is the retired Chilliwack nurse who spent $30,000 of her own money and raised community donations to build a cat facility on the Chilliwack SPCA site, shortly before SPCA administration announced that it would close the shelter.

"That was a really unfortunate piece of the puzzle that we wish we could undo," said B.C. SPCA spokesperson Lorie Chortyk. "In hindsight, communications could have been better."

Chortyk said there were so many different people involved in the restructuring that construction on the cat-arena, dedicated to the memory of Vermeriss' 13-year-old nephew Jeff Caterina, went ahead despite indications that changes could be coming.

"In hindsight, we would have delayed building it," Chortyk said.

The options for the cat-arena include moving it to another site, continuing to operate it at its current site and offering limited services to the public or reimbursing Vermerris, Chortyk said.

She said a final decision has not been made and Vermerris has been very gracious in working with the society.

However, when contacted by the Times, Vermerris said all of this was news to her. She said she hadn't had a message or any information that the SPCA was going to do something about the situation.

"I have not been told or offered anything," she said.

Vermeriss said she would need time to think about any offer, if she were to receive one, and would probably seek some advice. Her first reaction was that moving the building probably isn't an option.

"It would cost a fortune and it would ruin the building in the process," she said.

Meanwhile, Vermerris said she has received at least 30 calls of support from the community, including people who want to help create a local humane society.

Vermerris is eying the current SPCA property. She has done some research on the title and looked into the state of the buildings. While the cat-arena is new and the large animal barn is nearly new, she estimates upgrades to the main building could cost as much as $50,000 and she hasn't even looked at the books yet and has no idea of the operating costs.

"Have I worked all my life to see my savings go down that tube?" she asked, rhetorically. "No, it has to be a community effort and I'm very much encouraged by the calls I'm getting."

Vermerris said she has had at least four callers who told her they had planned to leave their estates to the SPCA, but now they've changed their minds