A St. Thomas animal rescue organization has received a bill of nearly $200,000 for expenses related to cats that were placed under provincial care amid an ongoing investigation into animal welfare.
The statement of account, totaling $198,165.28 and issued on Monday to Saving Animals’ Lives Together (SALT) Rescue Organization, covers veterinary and boarding expenses for the cats cared for by Ontario’s Animal Welfare Services after an inspection on April 30 of the non-profit rescue.
This bill follows about two weeks after SALT was informed that 17 cats taken into provincial care had been euthanized without their consent. Founder Bonnie Smith stated that SALT was notified on July 22 about three cats being euthanized and then again on July 28 regarding another 14.
Smith mentioned that the organization has until August 25 to settle the bill.
“If we don’t raise the money or get the money to them they will seize our animals and I can’t see Animal Welfare actually having a place to put them. I don’t know what they would do, but I’m assuming that they would euthanize them,” Smith said.
The Free Press reached out to the Animal Welfare inspector named in the statement of account for comments.
Brent Ross from the Ministry of the Solicitor General responded.
“As this matter is under active investigation, no further details are available at this time,” Ross stated in an email.
The statement indicates that the total includes $125,640.50 for veterinary services and $72,524.78 for boarding costs.
Smith explained that SALT didn’t always recognize when some animals needed dental work or other treatments since staff members aren’t veterinarians. She emphasized that doesn’t mean animals weren’t receiving care, noting that the rescue spent $170,000 on veterinary services through June’s end.
“It wasn’t like they weren’t getting to the vets,” Smith said.
The rescue accepts animals that other organizations with more resources couldn’t take in, including pets left behind after evictions or due to an elderly owner’s passing, according to Smith.
“I was taking a lot of those animals because when I asked people to call these other places, they said they won’t take them,” Smith remarked. “Out of the goodness of my heart and not anything where we were neglecting because we’re here every single day 10 to 12 hours a day looking after these animals.”
Once issued, SALT has 10 business days to appeal this statement of account with the Animal Care Review Board-a body independent from government aimed at resolving animal welfare disputes.
Smith intends to appeal this statement but hasn’t done so yet.
“I’m trying to keep up with just getting a Go Fund Me and getting this money so that they cannot take our cats and kill them and kill the ones they already have boarding,” Smith expressed.
She anticipates continued rising costs related to veterinary care and boarding services moving forward.
“That’s not the last invoice we’re going to get. The clock is still ticking on all this stuff that they’re stalling on,” Smith mentioned. “We need everyone’s support right now to save these animals.”
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