Community set to revive SPCA Wairarapa

THANKS: Fleur Garlick, manager of SPCA Wairarapa Op Shop, and her dog Jazz accept a $500 donation from Andrew Bond of WBS.

Another business has put its hands in its pockets, donating $500 to help get SPCA Wairarapa back on track.

Wairarapa Building Society (WBS) handed over cash to the SPCA Op Shop yesterday. It will go towards an animal welfare inspector for the region.

SPCA Op Shop manager Fleur Harlick gratefully accepted the money, which would help make up the $20,000 required to re-introduce limited inspectorate services.

"Hopefully, we'll get to that total quickly and things will start to happen," she said.

WBS operations manager Andrew Bond said he drove past the Masterton SPCA centre every day and it was a "tragedy" to see the facility going unutilised.

"It's a critical part of the community and it's tragic that we're in this position. It's important to build it back up."

Mr Bond said it was a pleasure to contribute to the cause and he challenged other banks to do the same.

"We can pull together as a community and put it on its feet again," he said.

Marketing manager Vicky Thompson said the bank had been talking about doing something for the SPCA for some time.

"And when we saw the story with Peter Rewi, we thought we should get in behind it."

She said WBS, which was established in 1885, returned 95 per cent of its income back into the community.

"We're making sure that the local community benefits and it doesn't go somewhere like Auckland or offshore."

SPCA Op Shop volunteer Ross Nixon said business at the store had "taken off" over the past week. "It's like someone's lit a fire-cracker."

He said the shop was solely focused on fundraising the necessary money to see SPCA services back in Wairarapa as soon as possible.