Financial pains put Grande Prairie SPCA at risk of closing

The Grande Prairie SPCA faces a heavy amount of financial difficulties but with financial assistance options there may be hope.

The SPCA faces heavy debt after not paying dues to the Canada Revenue Agency. The SPCA must provide a $50,000 down payment to the CRA.

Both the City and the County of Grand Prairie have expressed concern about the financial crisis at the local SPCA.

On Monday, the City of Grande Prairie will present options that could be available to the non-profit organization, including opportunity for the municipality to absorb or refinance some of the SPCA’s current spending involving paying their staff and the mortgage on the facility.

Program Manager of Enforcement Services for the City of Grand Prairie Chris Manuel believes that the SPCA’s situation shows the public how irresponsible pet ownership can have impacts on the community.

“At the end of the day, they are going to have to prove and bring forward a plan if they want people to put trust in them to continue providing the services,” Manuel said.

According to SPCA President Laurie Fisher, the main difficulty the organization faced was the mismanaged spending within the organization. Fisher said the organization has made requests to both the city and the county and is expecting answers during Monday’s meeting.

While the animals are still there, the SPCA has seen the community step up; 70 adoption applications have been filed since Wednesday evening.

“We want people to understand that contrary to some social media and public belief we have no intention of doing mass euthanizations or simply euthanizing an animal that hasn’t been reclaimed by an owner,” Manuel explained.

“I think I heard there was something like 16 cats left out of 70,” Fisher told Global News.

Fisher added animals that do not get adopted have options that ensure they are cared for if closure becomes a reality.

“If there’s only a minimal number of animals like there is now there are foster people available.”

The SPCA admits that the financial struggle limited options, which resulted in deficit when the time came to pay the CRA.

“It was, ‘do we pay our mortgage and the staff that are looking after the animals or do we pay the CRA?’ And so we chose not to pay CRA, which in hindsight was not a very smart thing to do,” Fisher explained.

For the time being, Manuel encourages the SPCA to concentrate on their primary service of caring for abandoned animals and working to find them appropriate homes.