Seems like former Toronto Humane Society president Tim Trow has been barking up the wrong tree.
His attempt to regain control of the THS board failed Tuesday night, with society members choosing to stay the course set by the directors chosen after Trow left in disgrace in 2009.
Trow was THS president when an Ontario Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals raid uncovered squalid conditions at the River Street shelter. He resigned after being charged with animal cruelty, but the charges were later dropped on a technicality.
More than a year later, to the shock of many THS members and volunteers, he put together a five-person slate to run in Tuesday’s election, where five of the board’s 15 seats were up for grabs. He further tried to unseat three board members who weren’t up for election, but failed to garner enough support for his motion. If successful on both fronts, he would have gained a board majority.
On Wednesday, Trow told NOW that he’s disappointed he didn’t win, but his fight for the animals will go on.
“I’ve fought all of my life for animals so I’ll keep doing other things,” he said, deflecting a question of whether he would run for the board when five more seats come up for election next year. “I’ve been thinking about working to change animal cruelty legislation, which is very weak… That’s something I’d like to work on.”
In an interview prior to the election, he vowed to take the results as a clear sign from society members.
“Usually the people are right in the long run,” he told NOW.
Trow’s bid seemed implausible from the start, considering the negative attention the 2009 raid drew to the shelter. The organization’s new board had spent the past year removing all traces of his legacy — one of cramped conditions and dirty cages — and THS volunteers and members seemed wary of any return to the old guard.
About 30 of the new board’s staunchest supporters lined up outside the shelter before the meeting began, carrying placards pasted with images of unhealthy animals, and slogans decrying Trow’s time at THS. They stopped passers-by with a petition hoping to bar him permanently from the board, and shouted down Trow slate-mate Ian McConachie when he arrived just before 6 p.m.
“We’re trying to remind people that even though the charges were dropped, it wasn’t because there was no evidence of animal cruelty,” said protest organizer Liz Anderson, a former THS employee. “The place is much, much better now. The THS is now meeting and even exceeding the standards of shelter care.”
Trow said he didn’t know about the protest because he arrived early to hand in some proxy votes. Newly elected board member Ken Wood found that surprising, saying he saw Trow check in around 5:30 p.m. — at the height of the protest. He said Trow was trying to hand in about 70 proxy votes, even though the proxy deadline had passed the previous day.
While the THS hasn’t released the exact vote count, it called the selection of the five-person slate endorsed by the board a “sweeping win.” In addition to Wood, who ran for city council in Ward 18 last municipal election, new members also include lawyer David Bronskill and long-time THS volunteer Carol Hroncek. Crystal Tomusiak and board secretary Lisa Gibbens were re-elected.
About 80 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot, according to Wood’s blog, but the only public numbers so far are the proxy votes: 521 in support of the board-recommended slate and 183 for Trow’s crew.
Wood echoed the sentiment of several of his board-mates in saying he hopes Trow learns something from the results.
“I think this is the final rejection of Tim Trow,” he told NOW. “It’s time to move on.”
Bronskill said there was a “collective sigh of relief” once those at the meeting were told the proxy numbers.
“The vast majority of the people who were there had a common belief in the new approach,” he told NOW, saying he hopes the vote will put an end to the focus on Trow’s dramatic persona.
“At the end of the day this shouldn’t be about the people who are running the place, it should be about the best interests of the animals.”
