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By: Staff Reporter

A week of turmoil continues for the Niagara County SPCA as former staff members, board members and volunteers announce their departure from the organization.

on Sunday, January 17th, 2021, a former volunteer at the SPCA, Kristian Ruggiero, released the following message detailing the problems inside the SPCA:

 

 

My “Open Letter” to the #NiagaraCountySPCA ,

As someone who’s been volunteering for the #NiagaraCountySPCA for 8 years, while fostering nearly 200 animals, I think the organization needs to make a statement and deliver a clear message to the community on the current state of leadership and what events are leading to this significant turnover.  We deserve to be informed of the current situation, which seems to be focused on people rather than the animals in need.  There are so many great workers and volunteers behind the scenes and every time the organization has this type of turnover and poor publicity, it negatively impacts the animals that should come first.  As fosters, we’ve always put up with some level of nonsense because it is ultimately for the animals that we do this, but enough is enough.  What is going on?  I can say that when I tried to become a board member in the past, I was turned down because I “offered ideas for improvement,” rather than being interested in simply approving and supporting whatever decisions were made.  Overall, on the surface, I’ve been happy with some of the improvements that have come in recent years, such as adding a surgical suite and making stronger connections to the community.  To see the entire organization unraveling now is disheartening.  That doesn’t mean that new leadership can’t be successful, but what does that look like going forward?  I think the community deserves some answers to those questions.

Sincerely,

Kristian Ruggiero