SPCA: And you were complaining about the RDCO?

[Bpeep]

They get a very large amount of govt funding. Ive seen the figures.
Do you actually think they operate exclusively from their garage sales, puppy sales, and donations?

[janalta]

Actually, I have asked them. They only Euthanize for severe aggression, or if they are sick and prolonging the animals life will only make it suffer longer..and on a Vets recommendation.

Where do you get that they euthanize for space? Have you asked them? I see animals online that are still there months later. So clearly they don't.

They have ZERO Government funding!

They also have a Spay and Neuter Program.

How about you get your facts right before you start talking?

You might want to do some research of your own instead of just asking them. You really think that's something they would freely admit to anyone walking in and asking them?
Yes, this link is from 2004...but there has been no policy change since that time...make sure you read all of the responses, especially the one about the Kelowna branch.
http://www.animaladvocates.com/watchdog ... ad;id=2831

[janalta]

They get a very large amount of govt funding. Ive seen the figures.
Do you actually think they operate exclusively from their garage sales, puppy sales, and donations?

Pretty generous donations...have you seen the new building? Pretty good digs for the three dogs they have.

I think perhaps the thing is, tax dollars go in to these organizations, but it is not exactly a specific government 'fund'...therefore they can say...no government funding.

[grammafreddy]

Actually, I have asked them. They only Euthanize for severe aggression, or if they are sick and prolonging the animals life will only make it suffer longer..and on a Vets recommendation.

Where do you get that they euthanize for space? Have you asked them? I see animals online that are still there months later. So clearly they don't.

They have ZERO Government funding!

They also have a Spay and Neuter Program.

How about you get your facts right before you start talking?

This article kinda changes the picture and kiboshes the SPCA's "We don't get any government funding ..."

http://www.animaladvocates.com/watchdog ... d;id=14288

Animal Advocates Watchdog
SPCA Director claims the BCSPCA doesn't "get any government funds at all"
By:AAS
Date: 4/4/2011, 12:25 pm

Gourmet dinner for SPCA
By Andrew Bennett - Rossland News http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_roc ... 09899.html
Published: March 31, 2011 12:00 PM

A delectable dinner will be served at the Gypsy at Red on Saturday evening, April 9, to raise badly needed funds for the SPCA shelter in Trail.

“It’s held together with duct tape,” Sue Wrigley said wryly about the shelter. “The BCSPCA is completely funded by private donations, we don’t get any government funds at all.”

Wrigley lives in Rossland and is a volunteer at the shelter, but she is also the regional director on the BCSPCA board for the Interior East region (Cranbrook, Nelson, Trail) and a member of the Trail shelter’s community council, a fundraising and advocacy branch of the shelter.

The BCSPCA is legally required to provide the services necessary to enforce the provincial Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, but receives no monetary support beyond in-kind government donations such as some buildings, land, and lower lease rates.

AAS comment: Sue Wrigley is a BCSPCA Director so it is alarming that, if she has been quoted correctly, she doesn't know that the BCSPCA receives $3,473,556.00 in revenue from governments. If she wasn't given a copy of the latest SPCA Financial information (2009) then she could have gone online to Canadian Revenue Agency's BCSPCA pages as I did (link at bottom), where she would have seen that the BCSPCA's revenues included $80,046.00 from the Federal government, $250,000 from Provincial governments, and $3,473,556.00 from Municipal/Regional governments (for dog catching/disposal contracts which require it to kill dogs that may be a public danger).

“We’re just trying to meet the budget,” Wrigley said. “We break even, barely, but there are plumbing problems, exhaust problems, roof problems. We just want to spruce the place up. Everything helps.”

Many may know the shelter from when their pet was deposited there by a bylaw officer, but this dual role as the pound “is not a normal thing for the SPCA to do,” Wrigley said. In Trail, however, the shelter has contracts with the cities of Trail, Rossland, Montrose, and Fruitvale. “It brings us in some extra money,” she explained.

AAS comment: '"... this dual role as the pound “is not a normal thing for the SPCA to do,” Wrigley said.' Untrue, but it's not possible to know how untrue by asking the SPCA how many animal disposal,/public protection pound contracts it still has because it has never answered. At one time it was the largest dog catcher contractor in BC. In fact, at one time it may have had as many as one hundred contracts. They brought in millions of dollars a year for many decades. They required the mass euthanasia of possibly as many as a million pets. Those contracts explain why so many people dislike the BCSPCA.

The primary function of the shelter is to take in abandoned animals and put them up for adoption following a number of humane but costly policies.

First, every animal that comes through the door must be spayed or neutered. Secondly, the shelter keeps the animals until they’re adopted. No animal is euthanized unless severe behaviour or health issues prevent adoption.

AAS comment: That is untrue, as hundreds of SPCA volunteers who have quit in anger and despair can attest. The SPCA has killed countless animals only because it has too many of them to sell them all. It kills old dogs, sick dogs, little dogs, countless cats and small animals and horses and cattle. The SPCA admitted it would have killed the sled dogs using the excuse that they are "unadoptable", the same cover-all excuse that Director Wrigley gives. An outraged world made a lie of the statement that sled dogs aren't adoptable. Yet it has worked for the SPCA for so long to say it only kills unadoptable animals, a falsity which the media repeats for it ad nauseum that Director Wrigley continues to feel free to say it. For recent examples see Titan, Oreo, Tyson and Munchkin at http://www.animaladvocates.com and http://www.animaladvocates.com/top-stor ... easons.php for the 56 things the SPCA said makes an animal "unadoptable".

[johnhenry]

From the SPCA website.
What I don't get is how this dog did not get spayed before it left the shelter.



"At any one time, our branch has dozens of animals in its care. By choosing to adopt from the BC SPCA you are giving a homeless animal a second chance at a happy life.

All applicants are carefully screened to ensure our animals are placed in the best possible home. BC SPCA animals are matched with the right guardian based on lifestyle, activity level and the type of care that can be provided. To some it may seem rigorous but we must ensure adopters understand the commitment of responsible pet guardianship.

We try to place animals in permanent homes so they don't end up back in our shelters. All adoptions require a completed application and an interview with a BC SPCA representative.

Visit the main BC SPCA website for answers to frequently asked questions about pet adoption.

Please note: All dogs, cats and rabbits will be spayed or neutered prior to adoption."

[Gilchy]

They get a very large amount of govt funding. Ive seen the figures.
Do you actually think they operate exclusively from their garage sales, puppy sales, and donations?

Honest questions- how much? I've only been able to find amounts they get based off of government contracts, land lease in-kind, etc.

[Gilchy]

Pretty generous donations...have you seen the new building? Pretty good digs for the three dogs they have.

I think perhaps the thing is, tax dollars go in to these organizations, but it is not exactly a specific government 'fund'...therefore they can say...no government funding.

You're right, the SPCA is all a big money-making game and we are all suckers.

[juliatrops]

Actually, I have asked them. They only Euthanize for severe aggression, or if they are sick and prolonging the animals life will only make it suffer longer..and on a Vets recommendation.

Where do you get that they euthanize for space? Have you asked them? I see animals online that are still there months later. So clearly they don't.

They have ZERO Government funding!

They also have a Spay and Neuter Program.

How about you get your facts right before you start talking?

You might want to do some research of your own instead of just asking them. You really think that's something they would freely admit to anyone walking in and asking them?
Yes, this link is from 2004...but there has been no policy change since that time...make sure you read all of the responses, especially the one about the Kelowna branch.
http://www.animaladvocates.com/watchdog ... ad;id=2831

That's a really good letter from Mandie Rawson (the link has a comment section, read the one re: the Kelowna SPCA).

The Kelowna SPCA gets a grant from RDCO. Isn't the RDCO a government body? The BC SPCA gets a grant from the Provincial government to provide services to the province of BC as well. Personally I don't like that their board of directors is paid but that is another subject.

Re: euthanizing for severe aggression... don't they do the RDCO seized animal euthanizations as well? The RDCO wanted to euthanize Shadow and now Diesel (if Smith doesn't take that ridiculous latest offer - they really need to get a new lawyer to fit with their new animal friendly paradigm).

But I think that Harvey Richter is talking about the Okanagan Humane Society, not the SPCA <?>

[janalta]

You're right, the SPCA is all a big money-making game and we are all suckers.

Right...that's exactly what I wrote alright

The SPCA is a BUSINESS, with very well paid executives and staff....much like many other non profit organizations. To believe differently would be rather naive.

[Gilchy]

From the SPCA website.
What I don't get is how this dog did not get spayed before it left the shelter.



"At any one time, our branch has dozens of animals in its care. By choosing to adopt from the BC SPCA you are giving a homeless animal a second chance at a happy life.

All applicants are carefully screened to ensure our animals are placed in the best possible home. BC SPCA animals are matched with the right guardian based on lifestyle, activity level and the type of care that can be provided. To some it may seem rigorous but we must ensure adopters understand the commitment of responsible pet guardianship.

We try to place animals in permanent homes so they don't end up back in our shelters. All adoptions require a completed application and an interview with a BC SPCA representative.

Visit the main BC SPCA website for answers to frequently asked questions about pet adoption.

Please note: All dogs, cats and rabbits will be spayed or neutered prior to adoption."

I don't think it has been said whether the couple originally adopted the dog from the SPCA.

[janalta]

I don't think it has been said whether the couple originally adopted the dog from the SPCA.

It was the Kelowna SPCA that made that statement....the owners said they brought her from a shelter up north, but did not say that it was an SPCA shelter.
Regardless, I have never heard of any shelter or rescue not having a stray spayed before adopting it out

[Bsuds]

I read somewhere the got it from a shelter up north. SPCA was not mentioned. They then took it to a Vet and were told it had not been spayed. They should have done that then. Poor choice on their part.

[johnhenry]

I don't think it has been said whether the couple originally adopted the dog from the SPCA.

From the CHBC story. Although the story mentions a "shelter" in Fort Nelson, a quick google search reveals that the only animal shelter in Fort Nelson is the BC SPCA.

An Okanagan couple is claiming the Kelowna SPCA is discriminating against them based on their age.
Bill and Ardyth Hodson, both 79, of West Kelowna adopted a two-year-old dog named Fifi in April from a shelter in Fort Nelson.

[janalta]

An Okanagan couple is claiming the Kelowna SPCA is discriminating against them based on their age.
Bill and Ardyth Hodson, both 79, of West Kelowna adopted a two-year-old dog named Fifi in April from a shelter in Fort Nelson.

Could well have been a private rescue group though.
IF the SPCA adopted out a dog without having it spayed first.....then they kinda screwed up, didn't they.

[johnhenry]

Could well have been a private rescue group though.
IF the SPCA adopted out a dog without having it spayed first.....then they kinda screwed up, didn't they.

I agree, the original "shelter" should have had the dog spayed. That is not the issue at hand. The problem is pet ownership. If you can't look after an animal, then you have no business having care and control of it.