The Animal Abuse Reward fund continues to grow. What started as a $5,000 reward offered by a group of veterinarians is growing by the day. By late Sunday afternoon it was over $49,000. Over 44-thousand dollars from pledges, plus the original 5-thousand dollars.
Along with the crowd-sourced reward fund, animal lovers are gathering for a candlelight vigil Sunday evening at Sue Higgins Park in southeast Calgary.
The vigil starts at 6:30 pm and is organized by a group called A Voice for Abused and Neglected Animals in Calgary.
Anyone is invited including pet owners and their pets.
The Cochrane-based veterinary company, Vets To Go, is overwhelmed by the donations coming in to its reward fund related to an animal abuse case – the Calgary Animal Abuse Fund.
Thursday it started by offering a reward for information leading to the identification and conviction of the offender(s) in relation to a case of a Siberian Husky found dead, with muzzle taped shut, and a cat also found dead in a separate location, with its muzzle taped shut.
Now the Chief Medical Director of Vets To Go, Dr. Wendy McClelland says they face a new dilemma as a result of this generosity. What do with all that money?
Dr. McClelland posted this on the website, “we are suddenly faced with a very interesting challenge, though it is a very good problem to have.” The question is, should all the money go towards a reward, or should some of it used to lobby for tougher animal abuse legislation.
Dr. McClelland writes “since this has been a crowdfunded campaign, we feel it is only makes sense to crowdsource the decisions on how to put these funds best to work.
Should it all keep going 100% to the reward being offered? Should the reward be capped at a certain amount, and the remaining funds directed specifically to focus on efforts to change the law and treatment of offenders?”
