A woman frustrated with the lack of progress within the Foothills Humane Society is now rallying support in the community to form another animal welfare organization.

Turner Valley resident Cheryle Dobbyn welcomes public input and involvement in the newly-formed High Country SPCA at the first meeting on Feb. 9 at the Flare 'n' Derrick Community Hall in Turner Valley. photo by Tamara Neely

Turner Valley resident Cheryle Dobbyn has registered the High Country Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and is hosting the first public meeting on Feb. 9. The meeting, which will take place at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick Community Hall in Turner Valley at 7 p.m., is designed to let the public know what the goals of the SPCA will be, seek input and ideas and encourage the public to get involved as a director, a volunteer or a foster home.

Foothills residents have already stepped forward to take on several roles in the SPCA. In addition to Dobbyn acting as president, Turner Valley resident Krystal Luchia is the secretary, Longview resident Paulette Jurgens is the treasurer and Black Diamond resident Yvonne Mahon is a director. Dobbyn said they are now looking for a few more directors, a volunteer public relations coordinator, special events coordinator and fundraiser.

Dobbyn was instrumental in rallying support from foothills municipalities and residents to create the Foothills Humane Society. The project shifted from an idea to a society with directors in February.

In September Dobbyn decided to abandon the Foothills Humane Society and start anew with the SPCA because she felt there was a lack of community involvement and too much focus on the organization itself rather than on the immediate need of animals for foster homes and care.

“Over the last year the Foothills Humane Society seems to be concentrating on administrative work, for example, grant applications,” said Dobbyn. “In September I got a copy of their bylaws — they’re elitist and non-democratic and I will not support a society where I can’t vote for who is going to be president.”

Dobbyn said the public can become a member of the Foothills Humane Society, however, people must submit an application form and the board decides whether the applicant may be a member. She said someone who has caused trouble in another humane society or has a history of cruelty to animals would not be accepted as a member of the Foothills Humane Society.

“My philosophy is the opposite. That’s who I want to join — I want to educate the person who doesn’t know (how to treat animals humanely). We’re inclusionary, not exclusionary,” said Dobbyn.

The Foothills Humane Society officially formed in February 2009 and seven months later she started organizing an SPCA, after trying to get the board to see their policies the way she sees them.

“I begged them to change those bylaws before I quit,” said Dobbyn. “From July through September I phoned board members to initiate a meeting to discuss the problems that I had. I kept saying, ‘You have to change these bylaws.’”

A main goal of the Foothills Humane Society has always been to build a no-kill facility to manage the stray animals in the region, offer spay and neutering and launch education programs to connect with the community.

The SPCA shares those same goals, Dobbyn said, and she realizes a second animal welfare organization becomes competition for donations from the community. However, if the Foothills Humane Society makes significant progress towards building a facility, then she would like to merge the two organizations. If not, then the SPCA will plow ahead and the stronger the SPCA becomes, the more they will be able to support the smaller rescue agencies in the foothills.

“There’s only so many dollars to go around. Any time a new group starts up, you draw money from somebody else. However, the established charities (for example, Pound Rescue) have a very strong base of support, so I don’t think we’re going to damage that,” said Dobbyn. “My goal is to build a facility that supports all the smaller animal rescue groups in the area. A terribly ill dog needs to be in a home, not an institutionalized facility — that’s where you work with a private group. They have easier access to the homes. And I don’t want to take anything away from anybody — I just want to get a facility built. It’s about saving animals and preventing abuse.”

Since September, the High Country SPCA has found five community members to adopt five stray animals.

The Foothills Humane Society has not found any homes for stray animals in the past year. They have been defining the organization, meeting with councils of the regional municipalities and offering free education programs.

“Our focus is more on building a facility first,” said Foothills Humane Society Director Nicole Busch. “We know there are rescue groups that are successful out here right now. What we need is a facility that provides education and medical programs and a proper quarantine area for animals going into foster care.”

In defense of their policy to screen members, Busch said the policy was developed after interviewing other animal welfare organizations about their method of building membership.

Many Canadian facilities interviewed are structured such that members can nominate a potential director, but only the board members vote for who would step into the roles president, vice-president, treasurer and secretary.

Currently, the Foothills Humane Society is operating with six directors: vice-president Florence Maione, secretary Kelly Kendrick and directors Scott Barnes, Troy Bourque, a veterinarian, Nicole Busch and Coleman Crook.

Former president Pamela McLean stepped down in November, stating personal reasons.

The board also lost a director in December, veterinarian technician Andrea Radke.

Their next meeting will take place before the end of February, which will be open to the public, and the board will vote in three new directors.

At that meeting the board will discuss whether they need someone in the role of president or whether the board can delegate the responsibilities among themselves.

Busch said they would welcome a meeting with Cheryle Dobbyn, though Dobbyn turned down the invitation in the fall.

“We’d be interested in having a meeting with her to discuss how we could help each other out. But we’re not interested in amalgamating at this point. Obviously it would be great to see all rescue groups in the region working together,” said Busch.

tneely@okotoks.greatwest.ca

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