Confusion surrounds OSPCA service in Grey and Bruce
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
by JIM ALGIE
New funding for the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) may not significantly increase service in Grey and Bruce counties, where the group has fences to mend with area farmers, one area farm leader says.
“It would be nice to have a good relationship with them; it’s just difficult considering the history,” Bruce County Federation of Agriculture president Pat Jilesen said, Tuesday, in an interview from his Paisley-area sheep farm.
The 130-year-old, charitable society enforces animal welfare laws in Ontario but closed its Hanover office earlier this year to save costs. That left area municipalities and police agencies wondering who would fill gaps created by the absence of resident OSPCA officials in one of the province’s most important livestock regions.
A $5.5 million boost in provincial funding for the society announced in late October came with a promise from Community Safety Minister Madeleine Meilleur to deliver “specialized livestock training for investigators in the agricultural sector.” But concrete plans for the new money await recommendations from a society allocation committee made up of representatives of 50 OSPCA affiliate groups and the province, society communications manager Alison Cross said in an interview.
“We’ll be providing additional training for our officers,” Cross said. New training material is “currently in development,” she said.
Ministry funding will go mainly to support a new, 24-hour, dispatch service for animal distress calls and is available province-wide, she said.
Despite the Hanover office closing, “we haven’t left Grey-Bruce,” Cross said. She referred to existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) arrangements with province-wide livestock commodity groups. Dairy Farmers of Ontario as well as hog, chicken and beef cattle producers’ groups all have such arrangements, she said. As well, talks have begun with groups representing sheep and veal farmers, Cross said.
“You can still contact us and, if it’s something regarding our MOUs, we will dispatch the appropriate officer or we will contact the local municipality and law enforcement,” she said.
Jilesen knows of no animal welfare investigations involving commercial farms in Grey-Bruce since the society closed its Hanover operations and there have been no calls from police or municipalities. He doubts recently announced changes mean much, if any, significant change for the region.
“The municipalities had nowhere to turn,” he said of federation initiatives last spring which provided contacts for area municipal and police officials facing complex, and potentially costly, animal welfare investigations. “We put them in one room and we had a good plan going forward with the understanding that there were no longer services available from the SPCA,” Jilesen said, referring to widespread confusion over the circumstances.
Area farmers have long sought improved training for animal welfare investigators. Jilesen has asked for details but has yet to see society plans for the announced training. Current training for investigators includes a week of livestock instruction, Cross said. BF