Vet sues SPCA over unpaid bills that go back five years

By Monique Tamminga
Times Reporter
Feb 09 2005

A Langley vet is suing the SPCA for around $10,000 worth of unpaid bills.

Langley Animal Clinic's Dr. Gordon McDonald said he filed a statement of claim in small claims court at Surrey Provincial Court after he felt he had spent enough time pursuing the SPCA for money it owed him.

"It was a working relationship that worked up until the present, but I guess they are short of money, that's unfortunate," said McDonald.
"I'll tolerate that. Typically I'll work with people as long as they don't lie to me. If I feel that isn't the case, I have to do other things."

McDonald claims the SPCA has promised to pay on many occasions and then refused responsibility on others. "We give them a cut rate as it is, so it's frustrating," he said.

The SPCA claims McDonald is submitting bills that are several years old, some dating back to 2000. "We can't pay the (bills) without verification and we're working through that. It's $9,800 worth of separate bills. We're tracking down a lot of little bills, not just one big bill," said SPCA spokesperson Lorie Chortyk.

"We have a skeleton administration staff so we're pulling people off regular duties to try and go through boxes to see if there is anything in our system that relates to the numbers he has given," she said.

"We can't function without a good working relationship with our vets so we need to get things sorted out . . ."

The challenge is these bills came from the Langley branch of the SPCA, she said.
"Before we restructured, each branch operated independently, so none of these bills are in our system. We have to track down invoices. He's given us printouts. We can't pay them without verifying them."

McDonald said he's been working with the SPCA for more than seven years, providing hundreds of surgeries and procedures.

Chortyk agrees, saying the SPCA has relied and been happy with his services for an extensive amount of time.