Act Rspca Head Resigns

[j]

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-rspca-chief-executive-michael-linke--will-resign-20131014-2vhy6.html

Canberra RSPCA chief Michael Linke will step down from the organisation after more than eight years.

Mr Linke, a former public servant and regional manager of Vision Australia, said on Monday he would spend five weeks in New York with his wife before considering new professional opportunities next year.

Announcing the decision on ABC radio, Mr Linke nominated restrictions on fireworks in the ACT and organisational sustainability as his key achievements.

“Now is as good a time as any,” he said. “The last thing I wanted to achieve was a secured future for animals in Canberra, which we did recently...”

“It’s a very difficult decision. You don’t make these decisions overnight, lots of discussions with my family, with my close colleagues about the opportunities and the legacy I wanted to leave as RSPCA."

It is not yet clear who will take over the role at the RSPCA but Mr Linke praised existing staff including president Sue Gage.

He said current proposals to end factory farming in the ACT would offer further protection to animals.

Mr Linke, 47, has represented the RSPCA in national and overseas forums including at the Washington, DC No Kill Conference, where he spoke about the successes of RSPCA ACT's rehoming strategies.

A trained accountant, Mr Linke is legally blind. He lives with his wife, Mardi, a dog and eight cats.

Last month, ACT government inspectors found concreting in rabbit warrens at an RSPCA site in Weston did not breach animal welfare standards but proved ineffective as a pest control measure.

Mr Linke said on September 10 that the concreting had not posed any danger to animal welfare and was never intended to kill the ''scores'' of rabbits on the 20,000 square metre site.

Despite the animal welfare concerns raised through United Voice, the union representing RSPCA staff, Mr Linke said the death of a small number of rabbits represented an accepted risk in order to provide better occupational health and safety for workers.

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-rspca-chief-executive-michael-linke--will-resign-20131014-2vhy6.html#ixzz2hfBHo0hO

[Alyosha]

Will be a blow to ACT RSPCA. But it's a high pressure job and amazing to stay in it for so long.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

I hope they get someone moderate in the role, the other states have some real whackos.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I hope someone continues his good work ..

[SkySoaringMagpie]

From this morning's Canberra Times.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-rspca-chief-executive-michael-linke-resigns-20131014-2vhy6.html

Canberra's RSPCA boss Michael Linke quit his job on Monday, with the organisation mired in crisis.

In his eight years in the job as RSPCA ACT's chief executive, Mr Linke became Canberra's highest-profile animal welfare advocate, weighing into controversies such as the fireworks ban and the government's kangaroo cull.

My job isn’t to keep everybody happy all the time, my job is to engage with our staff force and make sure that we rescue and save animals and get animals back into homes.

But all has not been well behind the scenes at the Weston Creek HQ and animal shelter in recent months, with the RSPCA's governing board forced to call in investigators to look into complaints by nine workers about underpayment, staff welfare and management style.

Animal welfare executive manager Glenn Howie remains suspended after publicly accusing Mr Linke of animal cruelty for concreting a group of rabbit warrens from RSPCA land in August and challenging the chief executive over other workplace issues. An ACT government inspection found last month there was no cruelty when the rabbit holes were filled in with concrete slurry.

Responding to reports of complaints from within the organisation on Tuesday, Mr Linke said only a small number of staff were disgruntled.

“You can’t keep everybody happy all the time,” he said.

“My job isn’t to keep everybody happy all the time, my job is to engage with our staff force and make sure that we rescue and save animals and get animals back into homes.”

Mr Linke did not respond to requests for an interview on Monday. He also did not respond at the weekend to a series of questions from The Canberra Times about workforce issues at the RSPCA.

Speaking to ABC Radio ahead of a five-week holiday in the United States, Mr Linke said no serious concerns had been raised with him while at the helm of the organisation.

“The staff to me are very motivated, very positive, you know it’s a really engaging, enjoyable workforce,” he said.

“I think when people listen to this and when people read The Canberra Times, they need to understand that these people are in effect damaging the legacy that I’ve left of saving lives and raising $35 million and actually damaging animals. They’re the losers in this debate.”

It is believed he will be replaced by George Costi, an official with RSPCA Queensland.

RSPCA ACT's governing council has confirmed an external investigator has been brought in to consider the claims made against Mr Howie - who maintains he has done nothing wrong - and concerns raised by nine other workers.

The employees - a sixth of the workforce - have approached their union, United Voice, with written complaints about their workplace.

The union's ACT branch secretary, Lyndal Ryan, said Mr Howie had acted as a conduit for discontent.

''He's certainly not alone in his concerns, he just ended up being a champion for other people,'' Ms Ryan said.

RSPCA ACT council member Kasy Chambers said on Monday that Mr Linke's decision to leave was not connected to the staff problems and he had raised the possibility of resigning as long ago as May.

Ms Chambers said she would not comment on human resources matters but said the investigations would be conducted ''by the book''.

The Canberra Times has spoken in recent weeks to a number of staff members who have left the organisation this year, complaining of underpayment and concerns about staff welfare on the ageing Weston Creek site.

Dr Jackie Reed, a vet in the society's wildlife section for nearly 12 months until January, said staff were often left for months on end to work well above their contracted role.

The vet's comments are supported by another former staff member, who asked not to be named, who said she reluctantly resigned earlier this year after the rejection of a pay-rise claim to reflect the role she had been filling.

The ex-staffer said there were clear cultural problems at Weston Creek.

''For me to have to leave a job that I was dedicated to was very hard and upsetting.''

Speaking before Mr Linke's announcement, a current supervisor, Belinda Gibbs, said many staff lacked motivation and, while the workforce problems were not new, 2013 had been a particularly difficult year.

''It's reached this crisis point in the last six months,'' Ms Gibbs said. ''We're losing too many good staff - probably about four or five key people who the shelter really could have used - all left in 2013 or late last year.''

[j]

I hope they get someone moderate in the role, the other states have some real whackos.

I hope someone continues his good work ..

From this morning's Canberra Times.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-rspca-chief-executive-michael-linke-resigns-20131014-2vhy6.html

It is believed he will be replaced by George Costi, an official with RSPCA Queensland.

I did a google search on George Costi and the following info from Linkedin was all I really came up with. I couldn't find a way to search for him on the Qld RSPCA site.

george costi's Overview

Current State Operations Manager at RSPCA Queensland

Operations Manager at RSPCA QLD

State IOperations Manager at RSPCA Queensland

Connections 13 connections

george costi's Summary

Extensive knowledge in Tourism, Hospitality, Food and Beverage Management, constancies include Philip Island Nature Park, several Chinese Tourism Facility and South East Asian Zoological Park.

Currently employed as State Operations Manager RSPCA Queensland

george costi's Experience

State Operations Manager RSPCA Queensland

August 2010 – Present (3 years 3 months) Wacol Brisbane

Non - Profit / Animal Welfare

Operations Manager RSPCA QLD

August 2010 – Present (3 years 3 months)

State IOperations Manager RSPCA Queensland

August 2010 – Present (3 years 3 months)