It’s “cheaper to euthanize an animal than keep it in an animal shelter or find it a home.”

And that’s why no municipality should consider contracting out shelters to for-profit companies, says Nicholas Gilman, Montreal SPCA executive director.

“I hope that people recognize in Toronto the terrible problem we have had here with for-profit pounds,” says Gilman.

He is referring to fallout from a CBC Radio-Canada Enquête investigation earlier this year in which a hidden camera was used to document questionable euthanasia practices at a for-profit animal pound that handled more than 30,000 animals a year under its contract with the City of Montreal.

Unlike Montreal ‘ which does not have a municipally run animal services facility ‘ this city has Toronto Animal Services, which shelters and adopts animals, operates cat-sterilization clinics, responds to animal emergencies, issues licences and tags for dogs and cats, and more.

But for how long?

One of the recommendations contained in a KPMG consultant report to the City of Toronto, scheduled for executive committee review in September, is to consider outsourcing animal services.