Time for a New Approach – St. Catharines Pets Alive to Launch Bold, New Initiative at Town Hall Meeting

Submitted by the public interest group St. Catharines Pets Alive

(St. Catharines Pets Alive in a recently formed, non-profit organization group in Niagara, Ontario that, among other thing, is dedicated to “promoting a ‘No Kill community’ in which no health or treatable animals are killed.” Its mission also includes the promotion of the humane treatment of animals, and the rescue and adoption of homeless pets.resuce and adoption of homeless pets.)

ST. CATHARINES, Ontario –– St. Catharines Pets Alive (SPA) is embarking on a bold and aggressive initiative to make St. Catharines a No Kill City as quickly as possible. To do so, we are beginning to build the resources needed to create a “safety net” for the pets of our community and their caretakers.

St. Catharines Pets Alive is following the best practices of other cities that are No Kill or are in the process of becoming No Kill. Managed by a talented and experienced board of directors that is committed to openness, transparency, and teamwork, SPA aims to bring the community together to form a coalition of volunteers, foster care providers, rescue groups, and local businesses to implement innovative and progressive solutions which have ended shelter killing in roughly 90 communities representing some 300 towns and cities across North America.

Dr. Brad Davis, Treasurer of SPA, and a Professor of Marketing with over 20 years’ experience in management analysis, says that Pets Alive is a “natural response to shortcomings in animal services within this community.” He notes: “Markets correct themselves. If there are gaps in services or an absence of progressive state-of-the-art solutions someone inevitably emerges to fill that void.”  Dr. Davis hopes that St. Catharines Pets Alive will bring energy, vitality, innovative thinking and a new spirit of collaboration to the community’s animal welfare services. In his words, “we need to replace the prevailing defeatism with a sense of optimism and determination to succeed.”
SPA will use data to identify the gaps in animal services that are causing large numbers of healthy and treatable animals to be needlessly killed, and then develop proven solutions to fill in those gaps and relieve bottlenecks in the system. By encouraging and harnessing community compassion, and implementing best practices, St. Catharines Pets Alive will make our city a recognized leader in the field of animal services.

 Thomas Manney, the interim President of SPA, stated “I am certain that what we propose to do will be better than what we have now. We can save more animals, and that would make both the animals and animal lovers very happy. It should also make the taxpayers happy, knowing their tax dollars aren’t simply being used to put animals to death in the absence of any willingness to consider alternatives.”

 Grace Pang, one of the driving forces behind the formation of St. Catharines Pets Alive added, “SPA recently submitted its Expression of Interest to manage the City’s animal control services, and we look forward to the next stage where we will deliver a cost-effective, comprehensive, leading-edge proposal that will save lives, and save money––a win for the animals and a win for community taxpayers.”

To usher in this new era of animal services, St. Catharines Pets Alive is hosting a town hall meeting on Wednesday, February 20^th at 8:00 p.m., at the Russell Avenue Community Centre. SPA is seeking public input and partnership to create a brighter future for our city’s companion animals. More information on the meeting will be posted at www.facebook.com/StCatharinesPetsAlive.

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