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Rabbit Advocacy Animal Matters
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Cat charity 'blindsided' by adoption centre closure Lise Broadley, Comox Valley Echo The closure of a charitable cat adoption centre just weeks after it opened has left one local charity feeling "blindsided." Kitty Cat PAL Society is a charity that spays and neuters feral cats and adopts out kittens born to feral mothers in the Comox Valley. The organization recently took advantage of an offer from Petland owner Jason Havelock to open up a satellite adoption centre in the Courtenay pet store. The grand opening took place on March 31, but just three weeks later, the kennels sit empty following Petland's announcement that it is closing its Courtenay location. The announcement has left volunteers from Kitty Cat PAL scrambling to find a new facility to house all the kittens that will be up for adoption in the next couple of months. "We were kind of blindsided by it," said charity vice president and founding director Larissa Whitby. "We wouldn't have put as much work into it if we had known they were closing." Whitby estimates that volunteers put at least one week of full-time work into setting up the adoption centre and plenty more hours working behind the scenes. "Lots of work could have been saved if there had been honesty - we would have known it wasn't permanent. It just makes you shake your head in wonder," she said. Whitby said that the charity found out about the store's imminent closure when a volunteer overheard Havelock talking to staff. Havelock, however, maintains that he knew nothing about the closure prior to Petland's announcement and that he contacted the charity as soon as he heard the news. He said that a corporate decision to cut the remaining four years left on Petland's lease was made because of an offer from the Canadian Tire Corp. "They have deep pockets," said Havelock. "It came as a shock but it's just business." Canadian Tire owns both Sport Chek and Sport Mart, among other brands. Petland's neighbour, Sport Mart, is also closing down and Havelock indicated that a deal for the Canadian Tire Corp. to occupy the two retail sites is in the works. Havelock added that he had just hired three new employees when the announcement came down. He is now moving on to a store on the mainland, where he said one of his first priorities will be to open a pet adoption centre there. Following the March 31 of the Courtenay adoption centre's opening, attention from the media and the public led to a rise in adoptions, said Whitby. However, now she fears that some of that attention may ultimately lead to a drop in donations. A press release from Petland touted an annual donation worth $50,000 to the Kitty Cat PAL Society, a donation that Whitby said was not provided in cash. The $50,000 estimate from Petland was for the use of the 1,200 square foot kenneling facility, along with all the fees associated with credit and debit transactions, cleaning and operating supplies, and food and care supplies. Now that the adoption centre is closing, those donations will not continue. While open, the adoption centre helped increase kitten adoptions by making the animals visible to the public. Whitby said that having a permanent structure, as opposed to the adoption clinics they regularly hold on the weekends, meant that more people had a chance to see the animals and volunteers could spend more time speaking with people and caring for the cats rather than setting up and tearing down the displays. Now that the adoption centre is closing, Whitby said that Kitty Cat PAL is in talks with pet food stores Bosley's and Woofy's on Cliffe Avenue to host a permanent facility at one or both of the sites. Comment: Petland initially offered their kennel space at no cost to the SPCA so they could get more animals being seen by the public and adopted instead of having to euthanize and they refused. |