City funding boost for shelter won’t cover shortfall: Saskatoon SPCA

The Saskatoon SPCA wants the city to cover the costs an animal faces when going from pound to shelter.

The city only currently funds the SPCA’s pound service — the first four days an animal arrives to the SPCA.

After the four-day holding period, the animal is turned over to shelter services and the animal is eventually put up for adoption.

Some animals need to be taken to a clinic or into foster care before being eligible for adoption.

Acting SPCA executive director Trina Mortson said the funding would “help bridge the gap for animals after their holding period.”

City administration recommended the city cover 20 per cent of this service with a $285,000 Shelter Services Support Grant.

“Their financial situation is strained,” Lynn Lacroix, city manager of community services, told council.

Councillors voted unanimously to cover the Shelter Services Support Grant in 2023 with a one-year only payment of $95,000 — significantly less than the original request.

“We're grateful that there is some additional funding. But we're disappointed that it's not meeting the initial ask that we were hoping for,” Mortson told CTV News.

“So we're still going to be looking at well over $200,000 shortfall to cover our costs.”

The grant is in addition to $825,800 budgeted for the SPCA pound services.

About 1,800 animals are transferred from the pound to the shelter every year.