If approved by City Council, the Saskatoon SPCA will be getting a raise for its pound services but not to the level the animal shelter has proposed. President of the Board, Chris Gilchrist, told the Planning, Development and Community Services committee that the organization would like this year’s funding bumped up to $1.1-million.

City administration’s calculations don’t match, although General Manger of the City of Saskatoon, Lynn Lacroix agrees that the SPCA’s pound services are under-funded. The committee approved administration’s recommendation that the funding be topped up from $466,290 for pound services and emergency medical care to $698,000.

The President of the Saskatoon SPCA understands it may have seemed like the organization was coming out of left field last fall during the city’s budget deliberations, when a significant increase for funding was requested, which is what has led to the ongoing discussions. Chris Gilchrist says they had just finished an in depth audit around where their funds go, and became aware how much the pound services were costing, when you take into consideration the mandated 96 hours in the pound, and the medical care and behavioural issues that have to be dealt with. He explains that by law, the SPCA has to accept all the animals that come to the pound, and the number of animals is increasing every year. In fact, Executive Director Graham Dickson says they haven’t been able to accept any pets from owners for a few years now, because of the growing number of animals needing rescue.

The money that was previously earmarked for the SPCA for animal cruelty investigations, which is now handled by the Animal Protection Society of Saskatchewan, will go toward the increased amount if approved by Council along along with an extra $102,200 from the Reserve for Capital Expenditures.