Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411140094
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A year ago, Javier was director of the Roanoke Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter. The changes in her life since then were set in motion when she and a faction of the SPCA members found they had irreconcilable differences with a portion of the SPCA board. Part of the debate hinged on whether the SPCA would promote or offer low-cost spaying and neutering, Javier said.
They wanted the SPCA to advocate animal-welfare issues, and they weren't afraid to say so - loudly.
Weeks after their vocal campaign to oust board President Steve Davidson and other board members failed, Javier and two other shelter employees were fired.
The SPCA maintains that shelter director Javier and her co-workers, Barbara Jones and Stephanie Dickenson, were terminated for business reasons, not political ones. Javier, Jones and Dickerson are convinced that if they had kept their mouths closed, they would still have their jobs.
A lawsuit filed by the three women against the SPCA alleging that their contracts were breached and that they are entitled to reinstatement and damages is pending.
Javier admits that sometimes she is haunted by feelings of regret.
Jones and Dickenson also have flirted with regret. But they keep reminding themselves - and each other -that they did what they thought was right.
"I think about it every day. ... I miss the animals, but Stephanie keeps telling me that it would be the same way if I was there," said Javier, who is now studying to be a paralegal.
"We want to be somewhere where we can get something accomplished," said Dickenson, the group's optimist.
According to the trio, they've found that place in their new group, the Roanoke Regional Humane Society.
Their group would take the goals of the Pet Assistance League one step further. PAL offers low-cost spaying and neutering, but the Roanoke Regional Humane Society would offer these services for whatever a person could afford or for free. Spaying and neutering will slow the birth of unwanted pets and, therefore, pet euthanasia.
"[PAL] offers it for half of what the vets normally charge, but half is still a lot of money to a lot of people," said Dickenson, who is now a student at Roanoke College.
PAL charges about $18 to $30 for a cat and $35 to $50 for a dog. For animals adopted from the SPCA, spaying and neutering is discounted to about $65.
But their mission extends beyond spaying and neutering; it includes education and legislation, Javier said.
Admittedly the organization's 35 members are a long way from reaching their goals.
They're in the process of obtaining nonprofit status, which will allow them to actively solicit members and apply for grants to fund their clinic.
"It's going to take time, but this clinic is the light at the end of our tunnel," Javier said. ``And we've fought much too hard to give up now. We have to help stop the killing.''
by CNB