Labrador animal shelter’s days may be numbered

Last Updated: Friday, July 11, 2008 | 2:30 PM NT  CBC News

The animal shelter in Happy Valley-Goose Bay is in danger of closing if more volunteers and more money don’t show up soon, the shelter’s board has said.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which takes in more than 300 lost and abandoned animals a year, would stop accepting animals Aug. 1, so it can adopt out its strays and close its doors by the end of the summer.

Bonnie McLean, a member of the SPCA board, said Thursday that more donations would help the association hire a person to work at the shelter, taking some of the load off the overworked volunteers.

“We’re never had to close before, we’ve never been in such dire straits with our volunteer situation,” McLean said. “Its the daytime shifts we need people for. We’ve lost a lot of volunteers over the years due to the military leaving the town.”

Many international military families used to call Happy Valley-Goose Bay home because 5 Wing Goose Bay was a NATO training base.

McLean said military spouses would dedicate much of their time to the animal shelter. But the base no longer has a full-time foreign military presence.

Lee Hill, a volunteer at the shelter since it opened in 2000, told CBC News she finds the work all-consuming, now that there is a shortage of people to share the load.

“I guess putting it bluntly, you don’t have a life anymore,” Hill said. “Your whole time is consumed doing SPCA.”

McLean said youth volunteers from the Katimavik program, who have been in Happy-Valley Goose Bay since the winter, have been lending a much-needed hand at the shelter.