The Humane Society Yukon has found its way into the black following the settlement of a civil suit against its former board members.

The society will receive $61,359 in damages. That will enable it to pay off approximately $50,000 in unpaid bills, president Hoby Irwin explained in an interview today.

The board will put the left-over money toward fund-raising efforts.

"The humane society basically is a fund-raising society,” Irwin said.

"It costs a great deal of money every month to run the (Mae Bachur Animal) shelter, upwards of $20,000 a month, and that's what the board does – we raise funds to run the shelter.”

Along with daily operation costs, Irwin hopes the board will be able to raise enough to finance several renovations. Those would include major repairs to the heating system before the temperature drops in the fall.

The territory's Registrar of Societies brought the suit against the former board members earlier this year after the board failed to comply with the Societies Act.

Philippa Lawson, a government litigator, explained today that this is a very unusual case.

The registrar resorted to filing a civil suit when the society refused to comply with orders he made after having informed the society several times of its violations and having encouraged them to comply voluntarily, she said.

"This is an unusual case,” Lawson said. "It's very unusual for the registrar to step in effectively as a public trustee on behalf of a society in Yukon.

"It only happens in really egregious situations like this, involving societies that perform an important public service to Yukoners, as the Mae Bachur Shelter does, and that receive a lot of government money.

"There's public interest in seeing this particular society function properly, and that's one of the reasons the registrar got involved,” Lawson said.

But the registrar is pleased that the society has been compensated for losses it suffered as a result of the former board's non-compliance with the act, she added.

"I hope that other boards of directors of societies in Yukon will take note of this and will inform themselves of their legal obligations.”

Those obligations extend beyond what's specified in the legislation, she noted, and include common-law and fiduciary duties.

Irwin said he isn't sure why the former board refused to follow the rules, but offered a moral to this story.

"I think whenever you get on a board, you have to know what your obligations are as a board member and what the legal requirements are,” he said.

The settlement will be covered by the board's insurance company, Irwin noted.

"The old board, nobody's out of pocket any money; it's just their reputations which have been soundly trashed,” he said.

In an email statement today, Shelley Cuthbert, the former president of the board, said she hopes the settlement monies will go toward the animals and not to any outstanding small claims court cases.

"The insurance company came to an agreement with the registrar to close this matter. As part of business, insurance companies will settle matters to decrease costs of litigation. This is the same for HSY,” she said.

Eric Dolden, the lawyer who represented the former board members in both the civil suit and their prosecution under the Societies Act in territorial court, did not have a comment on the settlement today.

Three of the former board members have pleaded guilty to the charges under the Societies Act.

They have been sentenced to two years' probation, restricting them from serving on the board of any society under the act.

Cuthbert has pleaded not guilty, and the case will proceed to trial in September.