The BC SPCA is expected to announce plans for a new pet adoption and education centre in Campbell River.
The society is holding a public meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 5 p.m. in the former Movie Gallery video store in Merecroft Village.
At the meeting, Craig Daniell, chief executive officer of the BC SPCA, is expected to announce, “an exciting new SPCA initiative to help animals in Campbell River.”
He will also provide an update on the society’s plans to find a suitable location for its education and adoption centre.
“The BC SPCA has been overwhelmed with the incredible support we have received from Campbell River residents and we hope as many people as possible will join us on Oct. 22 to share in our announcement and our plans moving forward,” said Daniell in a news release.
The BC SPCA hinted on its Facebook page in September that the society was actively seeking an appropriate venue for its new centre.
“The wheels are slowly turning. The SPCA is looking at an undisclosed space and is in the process of gathering information to apply for a re-zoning,” read the post.
Tuesdays meeting will be the second since the SPCA closed its Campbell River branch earlier this year.
In mid-June, the SPCA held a public meeting where Daniell announced that the SPCA would be returning to Campbell River. Following that announcement, the SPCA planned to lease space in the Maritime Heritage Centre.
That plan, however, was abandoned after city council encouraged the SPCA to look elsewhere for an animal shelter.
Daniell said that while the new centre would be run on a smaller scale than the former shelter, the SPCA intends to continue to facilitate adoptions, conduct cruelty investigations, continue and increase its educational programs and continue its spaying and neutering program through its new adoption and education centre.
Daniell assured those in attendance at the last public meeting that while the SPCA left its Merecroft Road shelter on short notice, the society never intended to abandon Campbell River.
“At no time did we even contemplate that we wouldn’t have a presence here,” Daniell said at the June meeting. “We been here for a long time and we hope to be here even longer. We are certainly committed to being in Campbell River.”
The SPCA pulled its operations in Campbell River at the end of March after the city awarded its animal control contract to Coastal Animal Control instead of the SPCA.