On July 17, Tampa Bay Times staff writer Anne Lindberg covered the opening of SPCA Tampa Bay’s new low-cost animal wellness clinic.
The clinic certainly does have the potential to benefit some animals. Yet against the backdrop of excessive spending on administrative salaries, animals being killed for failing improperly administered temperament tests, and empty kennels while other area shelters are bursting at the seams, it’s a very small step.
In this letter to the editor of the Tampa Bay Times, former SPCA/TB volunteer Joseph Ciccolini made that perspective crystal clear.
SPCA facility is window dressing
As someone who formerly volunteered at the SPCA for five years, I read with interest staff writer Anne Lindberg’s article. The SPCA Tampa Bay’s opening of a low-cost wellness clinic is akin to a brothel demonstrating its commitment to morality by hiring a priest and installing a confessional.
The SPCA’s primary purpose is to be a shelter for the animals in the community — at which it has failed miserably since 2012. Admissions by appointment — ostensibly to avoid casual surrenders — allows them to preselect the popular breeds, thus inflating adoption rates, while other breeds are euthanized or sent to kill shelters.
Dogs receive inadequate exercise and socialization. The SPCA canceled the Family Dog Trainer program (staffed almost entirely by volunteers), and thus the last chance at rehabilitation for many animals. The kennels and the surrounding grounds are often filthy.
The SPCA board of directors contains attorneys, bankers and accountants — and no veterinarians. If the SPCA wants to run for-profit and compete with local vets, they should forfeit their tax-exempt status and stop rattling their tin cup before donors.
Low-cost wellness is admirable, and some animals will certainly benefit. But all the lipstick on earth cannot pretty up the pig that SPCA Tampa Bay has become.
Joseph A. Ciccolini, St. Petersburg
move to ACT salutes the Tampa Bay Times for printing this insightful letter.
Addendum 3:40PM. The bankruptcy of Ms. Boden’s administration of the SPCA/TB speaks for itself in this sad account of a mentally disabled couple looking for help.