The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Dear Editor, We have a serious problem in our community and it appears it is only going to get worse. This past Tuesday evening, I sat in on a City Council meeting and watched as the SPCA dream of a permanent facility was crushed by a 4-3 vote against allowing them to build on the Golf Road site, a piece of land owned by the City and offered to them for just that purpose. The same site that at least one of the dissenting councillors had assured them was "a go." Every concern put forward by the small handful of people who are opposed to the facility being built was satisfactorily addressed in previous council meetings. There was mention of an alternate site offered. I went and had a look at it and understand the dismay of the people on the SPCA board. It is completely unacceptable for their purpose. This "out of sight, out of mind" site is small and dismal, with no potential for landscaping a "green space," fencing or safely and "cleanly" walking dogs. The SPCA wants to be a part of our community, easily accessible, where they can hold dog obedience classes, educational seminars, and have nicely developed walking trails that could even be used by dog owners in that neighbourhood, not hidden away in a spot where even volunteers don't want to go. Without being able to build a permanent facility on a feasible, desirable site, and soon, we are in grave danger of losing the SPCA in our area. The "temporary" location has been taken advantage of for years, and it is entirely possible that this is coming to an end. This is where our already serious problem will begin to get even worse. The number of people who allow their pets to run loose in town has increased at an alarming rate over the last few years, with several of the known offenders in that very area that the SPCA had hoped to be located. Not only are these free ranging pets a nuisance and dangerous (not all of us enjoy having our flower beds and children's sand boxes used by neighbours' cats as litter boxes and I know I'm not the only person who has had to fend off attacks made by unsupervised dogs when walking my own), they are for the most part un-neutered and breeding more strays. You may think your un-neutered female is safe if she is tied up or in a fenced yard, but if your neighbour lets their un-neutered male run free she is a "sitting duck," leaving you with an unwanted litter to deal with. For quite a few years now, the local SPCA has been taking care of this problem for us, taking in and caring for the stray dogs, cats and unwanted litters, eventually finding good homes for them. In doing so, it is not only the strays that they are protecting but our owned well loved pets. With large numbers of animals roaming freely comes the threat of disease. Parvo virus, to name one, is highly contagious, easily spread and usually fatal. Your dog doesn't have to come in contact with another that has it. All they have to do is come in contact with the infected dog's feces while on your daily walk, or in your own yard. By taking the stray dogs off the streets, the SPCA is also protecting our children. In the recent past, another community in Manitoba lost a child to dog mauling. Perhaps the dogs were starving or the child had the scent of a female "in heat" on them... either way, the result was tragic. You may say that we don't have a problem to the same degree, but we will, and we did. Flin Flon has had at least one child mauled to death in the past, and that is why the City made laws limiting the number of dogs that one household can have, required licensing of dogs and employed a dog catcher to deal with the ones left running loose. There is no full-time dog catcher now, and the only thing standing in the way of history repeating itself in our community is the SPCA, who finance their good work through fundraising, donations and grants. Without them, the City will need to spend tax dollars to employ a full-time dog catcher and build a proper pound facility. That small handful of objectors is no doubt celebrating their triumph. I overheard one "pro" SPCA woman lament that this would kill the SPCA in our community, and was shocked when one of the opposing men responded "Good!". I was alarmed that it seems that they really believe that what they have done is a good thing, when in reality what they have done is create a potentially huge problem for the whole community. My applause to our Mayor and two of the City Councillors who stood their ground and tried to do the right thing, rather than cave into a "squeaky wheel." Please don't think I am painting everyone in that neighbourhood with the same brush. I know there are many people living there who have no opposition to the proposed, aesthetically pleasing, new facility being built on what is the best site for the SPCA, the community of Flin Flon and our neighbours in Creighton. If you could find a feasible spot for them in my area, I would be delighted to have the SPCA as a neighbour. Debbie Kuzub
