The owner of the Penticton White Spot has apologized for throwing dog poo on the property of Compass House, a homeless shelter just a few doors away from the iconic restaurant.
White Spot franchisee Al Mansfield said he “just snapped after finding human feces again near my restaurant”.
Tony Laing, CEO of Penticton and the District Society for Community Living, which operates the Compass House, said a staff member saw the poop being dumped and the action captured on camera.
“Many of the homelessness problems are solved with shelter and adequate washrooms,” Laing said.
Business owners and residents in the area have long been frustrated with the loitering and crime in and around the Main Street animal shelter. But Laing said it wasn’t the shelter’s tenants who were committing the crimes.
READ MORE: Feces dumped in Penticton homeless shelter
“Residents who have to be at the shelter by 11 p.m. don’t commit property crimes in the middle of the night. The shelter residents are not the same homeless people who sleep in your doors when they have a bed in our accommodations. “
Here is the full letter from White Spot’s owner, Al Mansfield, below:
I am ashamed and ashamed of my actions at Compass House in Penticton on Tuesday morning and wanted to apologize publicly to Roger Evans and his residents for the injuries I caused. I’ve already had a conversation with Roger and hope to meet with him on Wednesday to further apologize personally and see how I can start to make it up to me.
I also apologize to the people of Penticton for stubbornly disregarding the homeless people of our community, who are often most vulnerable and disadvantaged through no fault of their own.
I just snapped after finding human feces again near my restaurant and showed inexcusable judgment, even though I immediately realized what I had done was wrong.
There is no justification for what I did and I apologize to the dedicated teams at White Spot restaurants in the Okanagan and elsewhere. You should in no way be measured by my actions. What I did couldn’t be further from White Spot’s values and showed disrespect for everything White Spot stood for over the past 90 years and for their many loyal guests.
I know Penticton is facing a homeless crisis and needs significant support to make meaningful changes that I feel obliged to be a part of.
With best regards,
Al Mansfield, Penticton White Spot Franchisee
To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.
@ PentictonNews
newstips@pentictonwesternnews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Get local stories you won’t find anywhere else straight to your inbox.
Sign in here
