By Alex Soloducha

Generous donors help the SPCA get on its feet

Jul 23, 2014 | 5:18 PM

One generous couple is helping the SPCA get on its feet.

Gary and Paulette Anderson are donating $600,000 to the organization. The promise they made to the organization is something that helped the new building come to fruition.

The adoption gallery in the new facility has been named in their honour, something executive director Debbie Lehner said they definitely deserve.

Gary was on the board of directors for the SPCA years ago and Paulette has been volunteering at different SPCA events, including the Paws of Hope Garage Sale every year.

The Anderson’s purchased the van the staff at the SPCA drive and had it painted, something Gary said started it all.

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“Debbie, of course, her dream was to get out of that horrible situation down by the Exhibition grounds,” said Gary, “So I started putting together a campaign to build a new facility.”

They built the Paw Print Inn first and then put together the off-leash park.

“This facility was last to be built. So here we are we’re all done, now we have to start paying some bills. But it’s a fantastic facility,” said Gary.

The Andersons travel south for the winter and visited the facilities there. Gary said this is how they know that the Prince Albert SPCA is something to be proud of.

“Debbie was changing [plans]; she would see new things or hear about new things. Constant changes to make the place better. If you’re going to do it once, you should do it once, not miss stuff. If you haven’t taken a tour of it please do because it is a facility that matches anywhere else that we’ve been,” he said.

The Andersons have two sheltie dogs currently, named Bernie and Ranger.

“They’re great friends, they’re great pals. We love to travel with them, we take them down south,” said Gary. “We’re are dog lovers.” Their oldest daughter is one of the top agility trainers for border collies in the country, he went on to say.

“We’ve had dogs since we were first married over 50 years ago,” he said.

Being animal lovers got them there, but the Andersons have spent time and money on many other causes including the Bring Back the Magic Campaign for the Art Hauser Centre.

“I’ve had the experience with raising money and donating money so it was kind of a good fit.”

The Andersons, along with business partners, were the last owners of the South Hill Inn. Gary said he has been in business in Prince Albert since 1972.

Paulette said they always hoped for a new facility for the Prince Albert SPCA and didn’t think it was fair for the animals to live in the conditions at the old building.

“It just seemed so sad. Whereas here, even though they’re homeless at the moment, they have a great place for transition, I think. This has been a dream for a lot of years, and it’s finally a reality,” said Paulette, visibly emotional. “I’m just so happy that it’s finally come to be a reality.”

According to Lehner, the Andersons are treasured by the staff.

“We are very, very grateful, and it’s not just that Gary and Paulette are donors financially, but they’ve been involved in launching the campaign from the get-go and also volunteer their time,” she said.

“I remember when we started the first phase of the three-phase project, which was the off-leash park. Gary was out there hand-planting 20 spruce trees himself and burned to a crisp. So it’s not just ‘here’s our money and away we go.’ They stay and they participate and are very, very involved so they play a very significant role in our organization in addition to any type of financial support.”

When it comes to the new facility, Lehner said the Andersons, and other donors, were crucial.

“It wouldn’t be built right now if we didn’t have a donor like Gary and Paulette… They have a passion for the animals and are very, very committed to our cause and what we do and we couldn’t ask for better supporters,” said Lehner. “It doesn’t get much better than that.”

The official grand opening of the new building will be held on Saturday from 1-5 p.m. There will be public tours and people will get the opportunity to meet the staff and financial donors. There will be a bouncy castle for the kids and they will be serving free hotdogs and refreshments.

“It’s just a time to celebrate and to thank the community and surrounding areas for all of their support because we do not minimize how we got here and it’s important that people know we recognize and appreciate and are very humbled by the generosity and the opportunity to have a facility like this that Prince Albert can be proud of.”

asoloducha@panow.com

On Twitter: @alex_soloducha