Posted with Mr Sargent's permission
Richard Sargent
Victoria, B.C.
August 27, 2004
BC SPCA Board of Directors and CEO
1205 East 7th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C.
Attention: Mary Lou Troman, President
Dear Ms Troman;
Although I have not received any formal notice, there is sufficient evidence that the Society is not planning to honor the Agreement with the City of Victoria as set out in the Consent Order in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on January 16, 2004. I find this decision most unfortunate for the future of the BC SPCA in Victoria and fear that the Society will now experience a public relations catastrophe from which it may not recover.
Personally I am most disappointed that all the efforts over the last two years will come to nothing and I am placed in an untenable position. I cannot continue to support an organization that refuses to honor an agreement negotiated in good faith and properly approved by the Board of Directors. Our community has been betrayed. It has become very clear to me that the Victoria Branch of the SPCA will never meet the aspirations of this community as long as it is controlled and run by the Provincial Society in Vancouver.
I am therefore resigning my membership in the BC SPCA effective immediately.
I will allow a short period of reflection before making a public statement to my community.
Yours truly,
Rick Sargent, Past President