This post shares my negative experiences dealing with the manager of Taumarunui’s SPCA Debbie Daldy. After giving a big picture view of what happened I give the ‘takehomes’ which are not good for people seeking ethical conduct from this crooked outfit. Enjoy, well perhaps “appreciate” more than enjoy, this time.
In a previous post I shared my experiences with Taumarunui’s SPCA. They have an op-shop in the local arcade using volunteers. It has been run for quite a while by a local woman Debbie Daldy. She’s not known locally for being especially ‘onto it’ but hey, she’s had it for quite a while, so it is she sets the tone of the operation. Sadly it’s not a good one with more than one of the local people noting for me that “they are users” of people and (again independently from more than one person) that Debbie simply doesn’t reply to them. Oh dear!
My understanding is that nationwide the SPCA has undergone a fairly major restructuring in the last few years, modernising itself and centralising. Taumarunui seems to be a legacy relatively independent operation. You can always expect teething problems in these sorts of situations where change is introduced and not all of it is good in everyone’s eyes, but IMHO the Taumarunui branch should be dissolved posthaste or at least a new management installed before more damage is done to the SPCA brand.
My events summarised are pretty simple really – I have been a customer for years; we were given a couple of beds by a friend and somehow (I’ve been told a tenant wrongly donated one set of my bed ends to them) the SPCA op-shop ended up with these things and tried to sell them for $75.00. My friend identified them as “the missing bed” and after double checking the facts, I respectfully asked for them to be returned to the rightful owner, me. I wouldn’t have bothered especially except that they were a gift and it was important to me to respect the giver’s intention.
I tried and tried, but Debbie refused to return them point blank, telling me that I could buy them for $75.00 or bugger off. I did neither. I warned her then lodged a complaint with the Police who actually bothered to investigate the matter (Yes, Taumarunui does do things right sometimes), blogged about it all, then sued the SPCA. I got the judgment from the court, SPCA were ordered to return the bed ends to me. A simple decision really. Six months delay; three visits by the Police; one report; two blog posts, $45.00 court costs and big shame on the SPCA . . . all thanks to Debbie Daldy!
So the takehomes for me, as the court appointed adjudicator acknowledged was not that I got my bed ends – it was the fact that I had to go through all of this because one woman was a ‘b*tch’. Why did Debbie refuse to do the honourable thing month after month after month? Why did the SPCA volunteers sneer at me; tell me that I was not going to get the bed, that it had been sold when it wasn’t and do their level best to cause me personal grief? I can’t tell you for sure, but it’s bound to be related to gossip. You see, when you speak the truth to power and they get exposed, they often respond emotionally.
Truth always challenges the crooked. Always.
Whatever. Losers will be losers. People with a brain and b*lls know that I shoot straight, so that’s all that matters to me – and the fact that today, the court system dispensed justice. Ya gotta be happy when that happens eh?
My advice is to pass up the Taumarunui SPCA op-shop if you can, or at least minimise your dealings with these turkeys. The other op-shop offers the same or similar products and much better service without all the interpersonal BS. SPCA needs to fire their current management and install someone who can actually do the honourable thing – someone who can deal with facts and not gossip – or they should close it all down. My experiences with the council compliance team have also given me more confidence in terms of animal welfare than the SPCA who just seem to want to neuter and euthanise animals.
For the record, Debbie did phone me a few days before the court hearing and told me that I could pick up the bed ends. She wasn’t very talkative and clearly wanted to avoid the upcoming hearing but under repeated questioning she did acknowledge that she had spoken to her boss about it. Apparently she said he (I assume) told her to “sort it herself”. My take is that she was also advised VERY STRONGLY to shut up and not say a word more to me and just to give me my bed ends so as not to bring any more BS onto the SPCA name. Perhaps that is why she refused to even say, “Good morning!” while attending court, and why she refused to talk to me when I suggested to the adjudicator that we just act like adults and talk about it.
If I am correct and this was the advice given then it was good advice, nah great advice because as they say, “When you’re in a hole of your own making, STOP DIGGING!”
Chin up people! There are always people who get nasty for no reason, or who believe the BS that comes from the gossip grapevine. You usually get over it in time. For those interested in the adjudicator’s order and her reasons for it I’ve posted it online. The bed ends (as the judge correctly details) are SPUC’s care.
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