BBMASS decides to sell empty animal shelter buidling

The Beulah Burman Memorial Animal Shelter Society (BBMASS) Directors and volunteers met with the community to openly discuss the future of the Society and the unused shelter building on Nov. 4. Concerns and views were expressed freely during the one and a half hour meeting where participants from Shelburne, Roseway, Birchtown and Woods Harbour concluded with an unanimous vote in favour of selling the building. “They can’t afford to keep it. They are not using it to house animals as they are in foster care. Nor do they have the volunteer base to raise $60,000 to re-open its doors each and every year,” said Susan Maples, Roseway, who attended the meeting. She added, “It sounds to me like they have lots of great programs that answer the needs of the animals and the community, like the Shelburne County low cost spay/neuter program.”

Debbie Harvey, board President, provided information about the cost to operate a traditional shelter and the cost of maintaining the building. “When the shelter was open for two years, the average operating cost was $48,000 per year. It takes $10,000 per year just for our group to maintain the building in a “cold state” with insurance, heat and oil,” said Harvey. She adds that no funds come from the government to operate shelters. “Our Directors have looked at the numbers, considered our resources and the economy and have taken into consideration the well-being of our rescued pets. We’ve had two meetings to address the concerns of the community, and now that we have the community’s blessing, we’ll look into selling the building.”

Milne Goulden, previous Director, spoke about being involved with initially opening the shelter. He supported the sale with monies being securely invested and the interest put in a spay-neuter program. Shelly Hipson suggested a mobile spay neuter RV, which could be used throughout the Province for a low cost spay-neuter initiative.

Two years ago, faced with an uncertain financial future and limited volunteers, PET Projects (a branch of BBMASS) started a foster home network to help respond to the number of abandoned animals being reported. It was also recognized that veterinary fees were preventing some pet owners from having their animals spayed or neutered, and as a result PET Projects developed a low cost spay/neuter program. In just over two years, 219 pets and their owners have benefited, and all this has been done without the use of the shelter building and through the fundraising efforts of a very small but dedicated group. ”It’s overwhelming at times. There are so many people moving away and abandoning their pets or who dump their cats or kittens. That’s illegal, by the way, and can result in jail time and a fine. No sooner is one animal placed when two more are in need of help. When shelters are full and a box of kittens are dropped off, shelter workers are often forced to kill healthy pets because of lack of space. The “shelter business” is not all warm and fuzzy,” said Hipson. “It is an emotional business, however.” She refers to 'Simon' the cat, who left frozen in the snow was badly frostbitten and lost chunks of his ears and paws. Other rescued pets include 'Mattie', a cat who lived in a car for a year, 'Oreo', whose owners left her at a trailer when they moved, 'Ally', a kitten found in a trash can, and 'Bullet' and 'Brandy', two dogs on “death row.” These animals are now in loving homes, along with over 200 other pets who have found forever-families in the past two years without the use of the shelter building. Anyone interested in providing foster care to cats or dogs should call 875-2367.