It’s been open less than two months but the new SPCA Thrift Store in Dartmouth is already a success.
“We get donated every kind of item you can image – clothes, shoes, decorative, books, electronics, pretty much anything you could want, you can find anything you’re looking for here,” said Vanessa Gillatly, a volunteer.
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All of the goods sold at the store are donated by members of the community.
Money raised from sales of the second-hand items goes back to the SPCA to help operations at their 11 regions across the province.
“We don’t pay any staff here,”said Courtney Barber, Provincial Communications Officer with the Nova Scotia SPCA.
“We do have a staff member from time to time come in and out and just kind of oversee things while we get up and running but it will be entirely volunteer-run in the years to come.”
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Gillatly is one of the volunteers who dedicates her time to helping the store operate smoothly.
“I’m an animal lover and I wanted to volunteer at the shelter for a while but my schedule wouldn’t allow it,” she said.
“Here they wanted anybody to come in, anytime so it really worked around my schedule and of course, like I said, I’m an animal lover so anything I can do to help out animals in the community is amazing.”
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Each year, the Nova Scotia SPCA sees thousands of animals come through their shelters.
“Provincially, we probably see close to 7,000 animals. Last year, we helped just over 6,000 across the province of Nova Scotia,” said Barber.
“Here in Dartmouth, we see probably about two to three thousand animals come through our Dartmouth shelter alone cause we are the hub for the province of Nova Scotia so the majority of animal cruelty comes to our shelter.”
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One of the key priorities of the Nova Scotia SPCA right now is their Trap, Neuter, Return Program (TNR) which aims to slow the population growth of cat colonies.
“Nova Scotia has a cat problem so we’re really working hard to focus on spaying and neutering feral cats and animals. Our mobile TNR clinic that travels across the province, as well as our two hospitals in Dartmouth and Sydney, Nova Scotia are working really hard to fix that,” said Barber.
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This weekend, the thrift store will be hosting a sale with all proceeds going to help the SPCA.
This is actually the second SPCA thrift store to open in Nova Scotia, there is also a location in the Queens Region.
There are similar thrift stores across Canada all operating to help animal welfare organizations.
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