An article in the Vancouver Sun, June 24th, raised some interesting questions about what the SPCA has not done about the growing problem of dangerous dogs, dangerous breeds, the unregulated backyard and commercial breeding of protection dogs, and what it does with the thousands of dogs like the one that attacked SPCA employee, Amanda Muir when it gets them - as it inevitably does. It must "dispose" of them in a safe manner - and it does. Disposal is cheaper and quicker than remediation, rehabilitating, and rehoming which is what all the independent rescue groups do on their tiny budgets and without employees.

This is our letter to the editor published on June 27th.

What happened to Amanda Muir is terrible, but at least this time it wasn't a child, and her face and life hasn't been destroyed.

Children are being attacked by protection breed dogs and desocialized yard/guard dogs all the time. Shenica White was one of the worst, but by no means the only. Almost all the really savage attacks are by Rottweilers, mastiffs or pit bulls or crosses.

This needn't be happening, but it is going to get worse until yard/guard dogs are banned and the commercial guard dog businesses are shut down.

Muir says that half the 400-500 dogs she has handled are Rottweilers or crosses. Doesn't that tell you what is wrong? And what does the SPCA do with all these unwanted dogs once they are dumped at an SPCA?

How come the SPCA has never done a thing about all the completely unregulated breeding and selling of these unlucky dogs? How come the SPCA has never seized any of these dogs for cruelty? How come no municipality has banned the keeping of yard/guard dogs? How come the SPCA itself has not recommended to municipalities that this is a dangerous thing and they should ban it? Instead, taxpayers and SPCA donators pay to destroy them after they have hurt someone.

This incident has raised a lot of questions. Perhaps now that one of its own has been injured, the SPCA might finally do something. Or it might not and just let this fuss die down and go away as it has with other issues that show how little it has done for animals in the last fifty years.

Judy Stone
Animal Advocates Society of BC