Wanganui SPCA manager Val Waters has rejected claims from members of the community that her operation was not up to par and that she was not helpful and there were few animals in the shelter at any one time.
The complaints received by the Chronicle included:
• That the SPCA had stopped allowing schools to visit SPCA premises.
Absolutely not true, Mrs Waters said.
"We encourage school groups to come through in the spring and summer when there are kittens and it is far more interesting for the children. We are certainly not stopping school groups from coming through at all. I welcome children coming in because I know they learn valuable information about caring for their animals."
• The SPCA refused to follow up when there was a neglected or cruelly treated animal involved.
Mrs Waters said the SPCA inspector was out every day checking on animals, mainly dogs which were being neglected and abused.
"But we don't have the facilities for several dogs so they go through to Animal Rescue, the pound in other words. We certainly do pick up ill-treated and cruelly treated dogs. We try to accommodate a few dogs but that's as much as we can do here." Mrs Waters said.
•There were frequently no animals in the shelter.
When the Chronicle visited this week there was one cat.
During the winter the SPCA would probably have about 40 cats all season but during the summer the number would be more than 160, Mrs Waters said.
The number of people who try and dump animals on the SPCA is horrific, she said. "They have their pet, a dog or cat then suddenly decide they're moving on and expect the SPCA just to take their animal and rehome it. Well that is not our job, people need to take responsibility for their animals."
Mrs Waters said she felt aggrieved about the complaints.
Wanganui District Council (WDC) customer services manager Melanie Heron said council had received complaints about the Wanganui SPCA.
"Animal control and SPCA need to work closely to ensure the Wanganui public receive the best animal services they can. There have been meetings between WDC and SPCA to advance this."
SPCA National Chief Executive, Robyn Kippenberger said there had been no formal complaints about Wanganui "but we are working with Wanganui and all our centres to provide support they need, at what is a difficult job in difficult times".
One complainant who wrote to the Chronicle said every time she had been into the SPCA Wanganui she saw no animals except the staff's own pets and one kitten, even in the height of kitten season.
"Me, my friends, my neighbours and other kind community members foster and rehome over 100 kittens a year for fear of them of them being put down, we do this at our own expense with no help, we also make sure they go to homes where they will be taken great care of and neutered."
"My friends and I have found the Wanganui SPCA to be unhelpful, uneducated on animal care, and most importantly uncaring, and it is so sad that they are painted as such a great part of our community,"the woman said.
But Mrs Waters said the small SPCA did very well and cared for many animals from the community that had been dumped and abused. "We're here to look after animals and that's exactly what we do," she said.