From left, OSPCA animal control officer Suzanne Gauthier, OSPCA CEO Kate MacDonald, Allan Austin of PetSmart Charities Canada, Mayor Al McDonald and President of the North Bay and District Humane Society Mary Davis hold the official "leash-opening" for the North Bay and District Humane Society Pet Clinic on Frday. The clinic is the first of its kind in Northern Ontario. PHOTO BY LIAM BERTI
Seventeen hundred cats and dogs; that’s how many the North Bay and District Humane Society take in each and every year thanks to extreme overpopulation in the area.
That’s why Daryl Vaillancourt, the executive director of the organization, and his team felt that something unprecedented had to be done for not only North Bay, but all of Northern Ontario.
On Friday morning, Vaillancourt announced that the existing humane society shelter has enhanced its facility with a state-of-the-art pet clinic, in hopes of reducing the over-population problems in the area.
“We want to be part of the solution to reduce the need for euthanization,” said Vaillancourt. “We want to be part of the solution to reducing the nearly 1,700 animal intakes each year into this facility.
“Moving forward, every single pet that leaves this facility will be spayed or neutered,” he continued.
As a humane society, the organization has never before been able to offer spay or neuter services. Previously, they would send the animals to local veterinarians and use a voucher system.
The project cost somewhere in the neighbourhood of $350,000. PetSmart Charities Canada made a sizeable donation of $200,000 for the project, with the remaining funding coming from humane society reserves and donations.
“The results when you have too many pets aren’t very nice for anyone,” said Kate MacDonald, chief executive officer for the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
“It’s not good for an animal to be sheltered; it’s not good for staff to have to euthanize, so we’ve determined that the only long term solution is prevention, and it’s spay-neuter clinics that allow us to help reach this.”
Vaillancourt said their services will be low cost procedures to the general public, credible rescues, first nations, and other humane societies. Depending on the size of the animal, procedures will cost anywhere between $75 and $250.
Northern Ontario’s first spay and neuter clinic will also be critical for surrounding animal welfare organizations as well. Vaillancourt said whereas a clinic in Timmins, for example, would have had to travel to Barrie for a certain procedure before, they can now cut their journey in half by using the new clinic.
“The importance of this particular clinic is it allows us a hub in the North where we can bring other Northern societies in to see it, to work in it and to hopefully replicate it in their own communities,” MacDonald explained.
It’s been a long time coming too. Vaillancourt said the idea to open up an in-house clinic was part of an immense undertaking by the North Bay and District Humane Society to set new, challenging goals for themselves.
The enhanced facility has also given the North Bay organization the opportunity to hire two veterinarians and two registered vet technicians. Over the next two years, Vaillancourt said they expect to perform upwards of 2,500 procedures, if not more.
“That’s four new staff members that are all professionals,” Vaillancourt explained. “These are skilled people with a very specific skill set, so we’re very proud to have them here.”
According to a report from the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, 119,000 cats and 53,000 dogs were surrendered to 102 Canadian animal shelters in 2012. They say the overpopulation can be controlled by ambitious spaying and neutering programs, hopefully to the point where euthanizing healthy, adoptable animals is ceased.
Now, after Friday’s announcement, the North Bay and District Humane Society are doing their part to address the issue directly.
“1,700 animals coming through our door is not acceptable and, actually, in a perfect world we should actually work so hard that we work ourselves out of business,” said Vaillancourt.
Vaillancourt said the humane society’s original strategic planning session for the clinic over two years ago was one of the best he’s ever been a part of, and thanks to that clear, tenacious vision, their once farfetched dreams have now been realized.
