Animals Slated To Be Euthanized Can’t Be Adopted Out: OSPCA
Posted May 11, 2010 2:34 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
When Emily Buffett learned a Newmarket animal shelter planned to euthanize hundreds of creatures she immediately wanted to help and contacted the facility in the hopes she could save a potential pet from being put down.
“I was just, quite frankly, pissed off that they’d be putting down all these animals,” the Annex resident told CityNews.ca, noting she has four cats and comes from a family of animal enthusiasts.
“I’m always happy to take in animals, always.”
The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) confirmed 330 dogs, cats and other small animals at its Newmarket shelter must be euthanized due to an outbreak of ringworm.
OSPCA spokeswoman Rosaline Ryan said adopting out the animals isn’t an option.
“There are liability issues surrounding that. The animals have ringworm, they’re in a highly-contaminated area,” she explained. “So it would be, not only irresponsible from our perspective, but also we’d be liable.”
Ringworm is treatable, but because the situation is an epidemic Ryan said adoptions can’t happen.
“Ringworm is definitely treatable but in an animal shelter setting, with animals in close proximity, it really is a different story.”
Buffet said she’s especially disappointed she can’t help directly in this situation because she’s been a supporter of the OSPCA. She said she called the organization several times Tuesday to find out if she could foster an animal, but received no response.
“A lot of the time I make donations for Christmas gifts and things like that. I used to make them to the [Toronto] Humane Society and then they had problems, so I tried to make them to other organizations such as [the OSPCA].”
shawne.mckeown@citynews.rogers.com
