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See Page 13
Mayor calls for patience as police work case BY
TOM ZYTARUK
Optimist contributor
“The tough part is being patient.” That’s the word from Mayor Lois Jackson as Delta police continue their investigation into the murder of 15-year-old Laura Szendrei of North Delta. Police have received more than 150 tips so far, department spokesperson Sgt. Sharlene Brooks said at a media briefing Thursday. Investigation, she said, “takes time. We need to be methodical, thorough.”
PHOTO BY
CHUNG CHOW
Delta Community Animal Shelter manager Sarah Lowe believes the new Meet Your Match program will allow prospective owners to find the cat with the personality traits they desire.
Matchmaking at shelter
New program tests cats’ personalities to ensure they’re a good fit for prospective owners BY
JESSICA KERR
jkerr@delta-optimist.com
Delta’s animal shelter has a new process for uniting its feline residents with prospective owners and so far it’s been a hit. Meet Your Match, originally introduced by the American SPCA and adopted by many shelters south of the border, has been put into practice at the Delta Community Animal Shelter, the first to use the program in the Lower Mainland. Meet Your Match evaluates an animal’s behaviour, temperament and interests and matches it with a potential adopter’s preferences. Shelter manager Sarah Lowe explained that when a cat comes into the shelter, staff members
out a new one-page questionspend the first three days assessing its personality. After that, each naire. (The shelter previously feline is put through a temperance used a five-page application that exam where the animals are tested had people waiting for days to find out if they were approved to see how they react to certain to adopt a cat.) Based on their situations — like a gentle tug answers about on the tail — that what they’re lookassesses their level “Their reactions help ing for in a new of interest in play, feline companion, exploring, “talking” us score them.” and being the centre Sarah Lowe the would-be pet owners are also of attention. assigned a colour “Their reactions and then let loose to peruse the help us score them,” Lowe said. shelter’s residents. After being assessed, each cat Lowe said this new system is assigned one of nine colours, works well because it can help which represents the animal’s prevent an owner looking for a personality, or “feline-ality” as it mellow kitty that likes to cuddle is called in the Meet Your Match from taking home a cute, yet enerprogram. getic independent cat that wants When interested adopters visit to explore. the shelter, they’re asked to fill
She said the program has been shown to reduce the instance of euthanasia by 50 per cent — in shelters that employ that practice; the Delta Community Animal Shelter is a no-kill shelter — as well as the number of cats returned after adoption. Lowe said she is also hoping it will help reduce the shelter’s cat population, which stands at around 50. Currently, Meet Your Match is only used for cats that are older than nine months. Lowe said there is a version of the program for dogs as well, but it’s not being used yet in Delta. For more information about the shelter or Meet Your Match, visit www.deltacommunityanimalshelter.ca or call 604-940-7111.
A private funeral service was held for Szendrei on Wednesday. It was noted at a police press conference Thursday that members of the Hells Angels had attended the funeral. Asked what police make of that, Brooks was non-committal. “We’re considering all possibilities,” she said. Jackson said she’s “got a lot of faith” in the “guys and gals” working on the case, noting the department has a “good clearance rate” on criminal investigations. Police had yet to identify a suspect or make an arrest at press time. They want to speak with anyone who was in Mackie Park between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. last Saturday and ask them to call 604-946-4411. In the meantime, the mayor says municipal workers will prune North Delta’s Mackie Park, where the Grade 10 Burnsview student was savagely beaten. This will happen right after police give their OK and bring down the yellow barricade tapes cordoning off the murder scene. Jackson said underbrush would be cut out, leaving only a green canopy that will enable people to see what’s going on in the park. See MURDER page 3