Quote from special constable Joan Bernt: "We have to advise them (the owner), this is the issue, your dog has no food and water. It's your responsibility to supply that for the animal, we are giving you X amount of time to do that. If you fail to do that, we will proceed legally."
I am quite concerned about what is meant by: "giving you X amount of time to do that."
If the animal has been without food and in particular, water, for a good length of time, why would the owner be given more than 2 minutes to provide them while the officer watched to ensure that these instructions were indeed carried out?
I do understand that there are restrictions and guidelines for the SPCA to follow, but as Ms. Bernt had also stated: "we're open for animals in critical distress, which basically means the animal's going to die." With conflicting stories of how long the dog had been without water and food, how could one be sure the animal was not on the verge of going into major distress such as kidney failure or convulsions?
Obviously, there appear to be many unanswered questions over the treatment of abandoned dog(s), indeed.