By Lisa Schick

High hopes for SPCA in Melfort

Feb 7, 2011 | 11:02 AM

If Pat Shiels has her way, unwanted animals in the Melfort area will soon have a place to go.

Shiels runs Comfy Kennels, a boarding kennel in Melfort. She has recently started the ball rolling to put an SPCA in Melfort.

The new SPCA would serve the entire North East area in Saskatchewan and according to Shiels there is a big need for an SPCA, especially in the rural municipalities around Melfort.

“I’ve had people in the rural area bring me dogs and most of the time I can’t take them,” Shiels said.

“I also get a lot stories of people that have had dogs dropped off in their yard or cats dropped off in their farmyard and there’s nowhere for them to take them because the Prince Albert SPCA is for the Prince Albert area.”

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She is just in the initial stages, phoning the outlying communities and trying to gather enough interest in the project to start fundraising and planning.

“When I phoned around they’re either really for it or not interested … there’s a few that are really gung-ho and really would like to see it happen and I’m sure they would be willing to help,” Shiels said.

Debbie Lehner, general manager at the Prince Albert SPCA has helped Shiels begin her endeavour and said this SPCA is a great idea.

“They could use SPCAs in every town or city in this province. We are inundated with calls from outlying areas such as the Melfort area, Shellbrook, the northern communities, to take people’s dogs … and we can’t take them because we’re generally full with our own city dogs,” Lehner said.

To go ahead with the project Shiels needs enough interest from communities and funding as well.

She already has almost 80 names on a petition she put up in her kennel and pledges by community business owners to sponsor SPCA events when it gets going.

The SPCA is a non-profit organization whose mandate is to ensure the welfare of animals big and small.

lschick@panow.com