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Demand is on the rise at South Delta Food Bank
Dancing sisters Ladner trio is in The Nutcracker
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Social place
Friends gather at Browns
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Optimist Delta
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YOUR SOURCE FOR LOCAL SPORTS, NEWS, WEATHER AND ENTERTAINMENT! WWW.DELTA-OPTIMIST.COM The Voice of Delta since 1922 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2010
Hoop dreams
Sun Devils enter season with optimism
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We heard, we listened...
NO MSG IN ANYTHING www.hongkonginn.ca Dine In, Dine Out, We Deliver
Hong Kong Inn Chinese Food and Western Food Restaurant
5561 Ladner Trunk Rd, Ladner 604.946.5677
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Banking on it
Officers are not off hook yet despite Delta report BY
JESSICA KERR
jkerr@delta-optimist.com
Ladner Bosley’s assistant manager Rayne Timmons (left) and Feed the Animals Delta volunteer Troy Hannafin pose for a photo Thursday.
PHOTO BY
CHUNG CHOW
Don’t forget the animals
Volunteers make over 100 holiday baskets for low-income pet owners in Delta BY
DAVE WILLIS
dwillis@delta-optimist.com
A group of volunteers is trying to keep local pets from going hungry over the holidays. Members of Feed the Animals Delta, now in its fifth year of operation, have been collecting donations to make baskets of pet food and supplies for low-income animal owners. The baskets are distributed by Deltassist, a family and community services organization, during the holiday season. “It’s a passion of ours,” said
Troy Hannafin, who’s been with the group since it started. The group, which also gets support from local pet stores, has grown from half a dozen volunteers to close to 20. “Every year we started getting a little larger,” he said. Last year Feed the Animals was able to put together 95 baskets for pet owners. “We’re aiming for 120 this year,” Hannafin said. He noted the original volunteers had been helping animals in various ways like dog rescues and shelters but wanted to do more.
“We were looking for another way to help people with animals.” He said one of the negative things he’s encountered while working on the Feed the Animals project is that some people ask why low-income owners have a pet if they can’t afford to keep an animal. “My response to that is that animals are always great therapy. Anybody who’s in a trying time, or monetarily can’t make ends meet and they’re struggling, the best therapy is to have an animal there. They request four things from you: Feed me, play with me,
love me and lead me. The only thing that takes money is feeding.” Shayla Cusworth, manager of the Ladner Bosley’s store, one of those supporting the effort, echoed Hannafin’s statement. “There’s a lot of times too when a family has lost its main breadwinner. The children in that family, they’ve already lost a loved one, they don’t need to lose their pets too,” she said. While this year’s donations cutoff has already passed, the group can be contacted at ftadelta@ gmail.com for more information.
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The police complaints commissioner has ordered a public hearing into the actions of two Vancouver police officers that were earlier this year cleared of any wrongdoing by a Delta police investigation. Stan Lowe, B.C.’s police complaints commissioner, has announced a public hearing into allegations of abuse of authority against two Vancouver police officers. The allegations stem from an incident earlier this year where Yao Wei Wu was injured during his arrest in a case of mistaken identity. Vancouver police chief Jim Chu asked Delta to look into the matter and after several months of investigation, chief Jim Cessford concluded the allegations were unsubstantiated. Cessford also determined the force used was reasonable under the circumstances to control Wu. In ordering the public hearing this week, Lowe said he considered several factors, including: the seriousness of the complaint, which involved a “significant breach of public trust;” the nature and the seriousness of the harm; and that “there exist flaws in the investigation.” Delta police spokesperson Sgt. Sharlene Brooks said the department supports the call for a public hearing but takes exception to the commissioner’s assertion there were flaws in the investigation. She said the chief remains confident in his finding and the department feels its investigation was thorough, fair and impartial. A date has not yet been set for the public hearing.