More than 250 people gathered near the Victoria branch of the SPCA on Sunday to protest the firing of long-time manager Penny Stone and provincial policies they worried would have curtailed surgery for some of the sickest animals in Victoria.
The protest was organized by Cory Bond, the former assistant manager of the branch, who resigned July 20 in response to changes she said the B.C. SPCA first signalled last October.
At issue is the estimated $370,000 in Victoria’s Friendly Neighbors Fund, raised by the public on top of the medical budget provided to each of 36 SPCA shelters by headquarters.
Bond feared that a policy change would see the branch have to dip into the fund for its annual medical budget. The only one of its kind in B.C., the fund is currently used to treat animals in extraordinary medical circumstances, both in Victoria and for animals sent from other SPCA branches.
“When I tendered my resignation, it was still in place,” Bond said Monday. Now she’s optimistic the changes she feared will not transpire and the animals that require extraordinary care will get it.
The B.C. SPCA posted a notice on Facebook that indicated Victoria’s unique fund would continue as a separate source of medical funds.
According to Bond, an October 2012 memo from provincial SPCA branch staff and meetings with head-office staff and shelter managers suggested the change in medical funding. Staff were also told to reduce costs.
“We don’t want to see any animals turned away,” she said at the protest.
But Leon Davis, general manager for the Nanaimo SPCA and one of four interim managers for the Victoria branch, said there were mistakes in the memo from the provincial office and confirmed there will be no changes to the use of the fund.
He said the branch expects to spend about $280,000 on medical care for animals this year. About $159,000 is covered in its budget, and the rest will come from the fund — which he said has been a long-standing practice. He said no cap will be placed on spending for medical care. However, Bond suggested the $280,000 includes $219,600 earmarked as the medical budget from the provincial HQ and about $59,000 from the fund.
Davis also said the branch’s funding model is unsustainable.
“The cost to run the branch is $1.8 million and most of that doesn’t come from fundraising but from people’s wills,” he said. That makes it difficult to bridge the gap when there is a funding shortfall.
Marg Williams and her husband, Ray, said they have donated to the Victoria branch for years and planned to list the SPCA in their will. That’s something they say they’re now reconsidering. “I would like the SPCA to apologize and bring [Stone] back and we won’t cancel our donation in our will. If they don’t, then we will certainly consider giving it to another organization,” Marg Williams said.
