NWT SPCA returning 'some or all' donations to Hay River
The NWT SPCA in Yellowknife is prepared to return funds it has received from the Hay River SPCA, but exactly how much it sends back depends on what people in Hay River, N.W.T. are prepared to do to care for animals in the community.
The money was raised for animals in Hay River, but after the SPCA there dissolved last month, the money was sent to Yellowknife.
"If and when there is a registered non-profit organization ready and willing to continue with a spay and neuter program, we will discuss with them directly about funding such a program," stated NWT SPCA in a news release.
The NWT SPCA board met on May 25 to discuss the Hay River SPCA donation. The board decided that "some or all" of the money will be returned.
Confusion
In November, Heather Clarke Foubert, president of the Hay River SPCA, hinted that she may open an additional animal shelter in the community, separate from the existing shelter now operated by the town. The Hay River SPCA lost the contract to operate that shelter after a bitter dispute with the town.
Instead, Foubert and the board closed the Hay River SPCA and donated its accounts, as well as supplies such as kennels, to the NWT SPCA in Yellowknife.
The more than $30,000 donation led to outcry from supporters of the former Hay River SPCA.
The president of the NWT SPCA, Nicole Spencer, initially said the money would stay in Yellowknife and be used to help animals from all over the North, including Hay River.
"While we have been authorized and encouraged by the donor to use the donation for the benefit of animals in the north as a whole, we nevertheless are prepared to work with a future group in Hay River.
"So that some or all of the donated funds may be returned to that community and its animals, if such a group is formed properly, and governs itself appropriately in the interests of the animals." NWT SPCA said.
The NWT SPCA is also encouraging people in Hay River, who are interested in forming an animal welfare group, to consider caring for animals in nearby communities.
