The BC SPCA is expressing concern for the welfare of animals in Dawson Creek after the City announced its decision to no longer fund any municipal animal services. Currently, the City has a contract with the BC SPCA to provide these services.
Effective December 1, 2026, the City of Dawson Creek will no longer provide municipal response to animal noise complaints, stray animal enforcement or pickup, non-emergency dog bite response, excessive animal complaints, or general animal control service requests. Importantly, these services are a municipal responsibility and are separate from the work of the non-profit BC SPCA, which is funded entirely by donations.
This decision leaves a significant gap in animal welfare services for the community related to the care of stray animals, responding to aggressive dogs and other animal control functions that fall under the municipality’s responsibility and their own Animal Responsibility Bylaw, such as animals designated as nuisance animals .
“We are very surprised and disappointed the City of Dawson Creek would make a decision that could leave so many gaps in the animal services available to their community members,” says Emma Hamill, Regional Manager- Sheltering, Cariboo/North for the BC SPCA. “Stray animals will be at risk without care or housing and there are obvious safety concerns around dangerous dogs running at large. Residents will have nowhere to turn for help with barking dogs and other bylaw issues in their community, which is likely to also impact local RCMP detachments who may see additional demands and responsibilities placed on them as well. We strongly urge the municipality to reconsider and uphold their responsibility to provide these animal services.”
Hamill says, “We will continue to prioritize animal protection investigations as a core mandate of the BC SPCA and will aim to continue our community-based programs like sheltering, pet adoptions, pet food bank and emergency response efforts with as little impact as possible. However, we want to make it very clear that we do not have the financial or staffing resources to keep doing municipal animal control work without a service agreement in place and will have to adjust our levels of service to reflect this new reality.”
In 2025 the BC SPCA, through the municipal services agreement, dispatched animal control officers to 520 animal control calls in Dawson Creek and brought 336 animals into care. Of the 520 service calls, 295 were for animals at large and 115 were for noise or other bylaw complaints. The remaining calls ranged from license checks to dog bites.
“One of the biggest disappointments was the manner with which and how quickly this information was made public,” says Hamill. “We were given very little advance notice about this decision, which meant our staff were hearing about the termination of this contract in the media instead of from their leadership.”
Hamill says questions or concerns should be directed to the City of Dawson Creek at 250-784-3600.