---
title: "Petition calls on West Vancouver to extend SPCA staffing hours"
description: "More than 2,700 people have signed a petition asking the District of West Vancouver to require its contracted animal shelter to keep staff on site for at least 12 hours a day."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/west-vancouver-2026/news/west-vancouver-spca-hours-petition-october-2026"
last_updated: "2026-10-30T21:33:29.834Z"
---

More than 2,700 people have signed a petition asking the District of West Vancouver to extend staffing hours at the West Vancouver SPCA, where animals are left alone for up to 15 hours overnight. North Shore News reported the story on 29 October 2026.

The petition was started by Kelly Bunting, who used to walk Clyde, a caucasian shepherd at the shelter, before the dog found a permanent home in September. Bunting told the North Shore News that staff at the municipality-contracted shelter clock out at 5 pm, leaving animals without any person on site until morning.

"Fifteen hours that dog was alone in the shelter with not a soul there, not even another dog, and he wasn't going to the washroom," Bunting said. "The poor thing was suffering from loneliness and physical discomfort."

Bunting said animals left alone for long periods can develop behavioural problems that hurt their chances of adoption. She also raised the concern that no one is on site to help in a medical emergency overnight.

## What the petition asks

The petition calls on the District to require the BC SPCA to keep a staff person on site for at least 12 hours each day. Bunting said she raised the issue with council candidates during the campaign, and two of those who won seats told her they would act on it.

"Staff don't like it, volunteers don't like it, donors don't like it," she said. "So I started this petition, and now we're at 2,700 people."

## The District and the SPCA respond

BC SPCA spokesperson Kaila Wolf told the North Shore News that the organization's care standards meet or exceed the recommendations set by the Association of Shelter Veterinarians. Wolf said any change to staffing hours would have to come with a change to the District's budget.

"It's what is realistic and what is possible with the financial and human resources that we have available to us as a non-profit organization," Wolf said.

District of West Vancouver spokesperson Natalie Roizman said in a statement that the municipal contract with the SPCA is up for renewal and the new council will have the opportunity to review the agreement.

"We recognize that residents care deeply about the welfare of animals in our community, and those concerns will be considered as the agreement is revisited," Roizman said.

## What residents can do

Under section 124 (2)(g) of the Community Charter, the new West Vancouver Council must hold its first regular meeting within the first 10 days of November. Bunting said she plans to present the petition at that meeting. Residents can also apply through the BC SPCA to foster shelter animals. See the [West Vancouver election results](/bc/west-vancouver-2026/results) for the full list of people now on council.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/bc/west-vancouver-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.