The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PAGE 2o WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 19ý82, WHITBY FREE-PRESS Ontaro Hum ane Soc iety looking for lo op'holesii anial,-contol service contract, Batten carges It would not take much for' North Ward Coundillor Ross, Batten, te recommend .'thatthe Town ef Whitby's,,con- tract wlth the Ontario Humane Society be can- ceiled. Batten la more than v i ibiy angered wlth the O.H.S. and its executive vice-president Tom Hughes. Batten's 1cen-, cerns are based on the staffing level of the Thlckson Road' North animal control centre. The centre, itself . a owned and maintained jointly by the towns of Whitby, Ajax and Pickering who in turn award their joint con- tract for animal control services in, their muni- cipalities te the humane society. Earlier this year,,the oceyentered Inte a new cei4act with the municipalitiesthat.set eut a recjulred level of service. According te Batten, recent staff lay-offs at the centremay be en- dangerlng the level of service. Last week, the P.A.W. (Pickering, Ajax, Whit- by animal centrol) committee met with Hughes te discusa tuis problim, a meeting that Batten says- was net a greatsuccess., "He (Hughes), as usuai, maintained he BATTEN was previding the cen- tracted level of ser- vice," he said in an in- terview iast Friday. Accerding te the cen-ý tract, the society A supposeéd tel have three wardens on duty at 1al times bu.t Batten says that reports filed by the society, show tha.t only two are actually on the job. When the commite asked about tis , Batten said "'Mr. Hughes'. res- ponse was that the re- ports must be wrong." 1In fact, Batten aise reported that during, the meeting, Hughes toid the committee that the meeting was net. being held "flnot a good en- vironument, that we were hostile towards hlm- and. he feit he should leave. " The ceuncillor aise told the Free Press that he believed ail the towfl's animal cenfre preblens had been solved when the new contract 'was signed earlier this year, but thua las proved not to be th1e case. <"'I thought al our problemns were being aileviated," he said, "but this is not happen- lng." The P.A.W. commit- tee will send a letter to Hughes requesting that the level of servce agreed te in the contract be provided. This is despite the fact that Hughes told the committee that Coral Lang, theé shelter's superviser, will be -re- cailed te werk as of yesterday mornlng. For Batten, a look at the problenia, that the town has wlth the Ont- aie -Hu mane Society centre areund Hughes hfimself. '.'Mr. Hughes is a sur- viver," he commenta, "he entera into con- tracts .and leoks fer every leephole." <1"He is a shrewd mndi- vidual" Batten is convinced that Hughes does' net want te adhere .te the conditions ef the con- tract. "The man dees net want te conferm> te the contract,"1 he said, "He wants. everything done Mr. Hughes' way and I'm sick and tlred 0f Mr. Hughes' way."ý The councileor aise said- that befere, the next P.A.W. cbmmittee meeting later this mon- thi, he wiil be consulting wlth the mayer and the o ther members of ceun- cil. ' At that meeting, Batten and ceuncillers Norali Stener (Picker- ing),.and Steve Parish (Ajax) will decide their huma ne society "We're ln tedriver's seat with lie centract," Batten saiid, "If he (Hughes). Is net geing te conferm, then there are alternatives" Whlle he has a great deai of confidence. in local seciety staff meni- bers te do'the job and believes the current sys- tem et animal centrol la thebest, one avallable, Batten is, net tee sure that Whltby residents are,., gettlng their, money's worth., He, peinted, eut that the tewn- pays the seciety juat qyer $50,OOO a year for animai con- trel services. But the current diffi- culties leave Batten with a bitter taste,in is mouti. "My persenal feeling' la thatý I -would just as soon net de business witi the 1 -Ontario Humane Society,'" he