“We do need to know who’s looking after the critters:” city to investigate options after SPCA closure

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — After hearing reports that Fort St. John’s SPCA building was condemned by the organization, city council decided that the future of animal care in the city needed further examination.

“We’re hearing on the streets that the [local SPCA building] has been condemned by the BC SPCA,” Mayor Lori Ackerman said. “I’m concerned. We have a poundkeeper’s agreement with them, and we have a budget coming up.”

Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Darrell Blades said that the agreement itself expired in 2019 and has been kept up on a monthly basis while negotiations for a new one took place. Though the agreement was in process, the BC SPCA condemned the building due to structural issues before it could be finalized. 

The future of animal care in the city, then, is up in the air. The stop-gap measure employed so far—housing strays with local vets overnight—has become costly and begun to “impact operational services,” Blades said.

Options discussed by council members included councillor Lilia Hansen’s suggestion to look into extra space owned by the city already. Other councillors confirmed that there is none. 

Council passed a motion asking city staff to investigate further ways to move forward with the poundkeeper’s agreement, which provides funding for animal control in the city.

“I think if staff just put the feelers out there, they’ll bring back the pertinent information,” Ackerman said.

Finding these options is important, she said, “mainly because of the poundkeepers agreement—but we do need to know who’s looking after the critters.”