Hay River SPCA still in operation
Organization was never properly dissolved
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, June 12, 2017
HAY RIVER
An annual general meeting has been called for the Hay River SPCA.
That may come as a surprise to many people since the former president and board of the organization had announced in mid-May that it had been dissolved.
However, some people in Hay River looked into what is actually required to dissolve a society, and discovered the Hay River SPCA had not met the requirements.
"We ended up calling the Department of Justice, the corporate registries, and I just asked them if the SPCA had filed the proper paperwork for dissolution and they told me that it was still an active society," said community resident Scott Clouthier.
Clouthier said since the Hay River SPCA has not been dissolved, a paid-up member of the organization was asked to call an AGM.
That has been done, and the AGM has been announced for June 13.
Clouthier said he hopes a new board can be elected and the organization can carry on with business as usual.
In usual circumstances, an AGM is called by an organization's president. However, the former president of the Hay River SPCA has moved out of town.
Clouthier said there are people interested in either rejoining the Hay River SPCA and others like himself interested in getting involved to keep the organization running.
Clouthier noted that a group of people, which he describes as a grassroots movement, had been discussing forming a new society called Friends of the Hay River Animal Shelter, once they heard of the Hay River SPCA's supposed dissolution.
"So the idea was basically to bring back the services that were lost, most especially the spay and neuter program, because it's important to help keep the stray population down," he said.
The newest development is the latest turn in an ongoing saga of the Hay River SPCA, which included a breakup with the Town of Hay River last year and the end of an agreement to operate the Hay River Animal Shelter.
There was also a controversial decision by the former board to make a large donation to the Northwest Territories SPCA.
Nicole Spencer, president of the Northwest Territories SPCA, told Yellowknifer newspaper she understands why people in Hay River are upset about that donation.
"I guess they felt they raised the money, Hay River people raised the money for their community, and now we're gone," she said.
"But at the same time, a group donated money to us, so we have to be responsible for that money now."
The NWT SPCA announced in a statement on May 30 that its board had decided to re-donate the money if and when there is a registered non-profit organization in Hay River willing to continue a spay/neuter program.
- with files from Jessica Davey-Quantick
