THE NORTHERN VIEW
BC SPCA committed to keeping Prince Rupert shelter open through 2010

By Shaun Thomas - The Northern View
Published: February 24, 2010 12:00 PM

The BC SPCA says that although they didn’t receive the $70,000 grant requested from the City of Prince Rupert, the organization has no plans of making changes in the community in the coming year.
“The shelter will remain open through 2010, the last thing we want to do is shut down an operation. We may have to re-examine the situation again in 2011…When we have a situation like we have in Prince Rupert, other communities do allow funds to go there to keep the shelter operational,” explained BC SPCA community relations manager Lorie Chortyk, adding that they don’t anticipate any change in 2010.
“Even though it is a subsidized shelter, we are committed to keep it open…If there is not a grant after that we certainly won’t abandon the animals in Prince Rupert, but we will need to look at how we deliver services in the community.”
The BC SPCA doesn’t receive provincial funding for services such as animal cruelty investigation, and Chortyk said it is important for people who appreciate the work of the local shelter to show their support going forward.
“The community is our only source of support and we are 100 per cent a charity. We would love to provide the same services or more services for the animals in Prince Rupert, but we can only do that if the community rallies around us because that is our only source of funding,” she said.
“Right now the City is struggling and that affects us as well…The BC SPCA is a province-wide organization, but we need to pay our bills as well and if there is a case where we can’t pay those bills we need to look at that situation.”
http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_north/thenorthernview/news/85238577.html