Maple Ridge Times March 28/03 SPCA Shelter to Close

Four-legged friends set to move

By Nicholas Riley

Canine and feline residents of the Maple Ridge SPCA are going to get some new digs by 2006 - part of a province-wide plan to provide better facilities for abandoned pets. Although this ambitious plan will mean animal lovers in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows will see the last days of the local shelter - the new facility will be built in a central location to also serve the Tri-Cities and northeast Burnaby areas - SPCA spokesperson Lorie Chortyk said the association will continue to serve local animals.

"Our concept is something more like a community animal centre. What we're operating right now are buildings that were designed as pounds," she said. "This would be replacing our existing facilities in Maple Ridge."

At the society board meeting on March 22, a new plan for SPCA services in the Lower Mainland area for the next 17 years was approved. The new approach hinges on a regional model - new large-scale shelters aimed at better care for their animal charges, combined with local adoption centres. Chortyk said the regional facility for the North Fraser region is planned first, but admitted they haven't chosen a location yet.

"The board instructed the staff to make it a priority to acquire the actual sites...we're really optimistic," she said, adding the process has been slow due to the need for care in choosing the site's location. "We have to make sure that we're working with the neighbourhood. Transportation, and access for all the communities they would serve would be key points. It really depends on what kind of properties would come available. We would be looking for central access."

Each year, the new North Fraser shelter would have to house about 2,400 local animals, as well as 1,400 from Coquitlam, 600 from Port Coquitlam, 200 from Port Moody and 100 from Anmore and Belcarra, and some of the 2,100 from Burnaby. And the regional centres are a lot more than a place to shelter the nearly 7,000 abandoned animals - the SPCA envisions enough space for large runs for the dogs to stretch their legs, and a pet care and behaviour resource centre operated.

"We really want to work on more of a partnership model...we want to be working more closely with school districts for education about animals," Chortyk said. "We're looking at a much more holistic model of community animal management."

The shelters also plan to serve as a gathering place for animal-related services such as obedience training, youth programs and volunteer opportunities.

"We're really trying to promote a life-long bond with the animals," Chortyk said, adding the Maple Ridge facilities, along with many others in the North Fraser region, are leased properties originally designed as temporary pounds.

"Most of the buildings we operate in are mostly owned by the city. I think, in that region, there's a reason why they're first on the list."

Although the citizens of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows will have to cross the Pitt River to access the SPCA's super-shelter - it would be impossible to raise the money to build them in every community - Chortyk said "adoption centres" are planned for many communities.

Based on SPCA research into other animal welfare organizations, the adoption centres are planned for central locations in communities, like malls, and are often set up like a pet store. She said adoptable cats, dogs and small animals from the shelters would be available for viewing and interaction with the public, in addition to public information on pet care. Some centres also have pet care products for sale to raise funds for other programs, and allow volunteers to participate in programs like dog walking, cat care, grooming, small animal care and humane education programs.

"People cold adopt the animals at the shelter or at the adoption centre, and we are also exploring having in malls computer kiosks," she said, adding the computers would have access to the society's internet adoption database. "We're trying to make it as convenient as possible to interact with the SPCA. Across B.C. we deal with 70,000 animals each year, so it's always a challenge to match them up."