Mistreated dogs returned to owner
CHIHUAHUAS
By Mike Purdon/Staff Writer

Ten neglected dogs seized from a hobby farm in Chilliwack have been returned to their original owner, much to the dismay of local residents who agreed to take them in and nurse them back to health.
“I was doing this because these dogs were in absolutely horrible shape,” said Patricia Josh Best, a Coast resident who agreed to foster one of the dogs after the call went out from the B.C. SPCA in mid-May. “These dogs were sick, starving, filthy, covered in fleas, scarred and missing teeth. The dogs are just starting to grow hair on their ears after two months in foster care.”

According to Josh Best, after being assured that the SPCA would go to court to get an order of custody, the foster families were shocked to learn the dogs would instead simply be given back. She said the SPCA accepted $11,000 in fees and on Friday the adult chihuahuas were taken home.

Eileen Drever, the SPCA senior animal protection officer who seized the dogs, said they have no choice but to return the animals.

“We have to work within the confines of the law,” Drever said Friday. “We have to send them back. But we would not be sending them back into those same conditions.”

Drever said the woman who owns the dogs and the individual who had been caring for them in her absence may yet be charged with cruelty to animals. “The charge is being forwarded to Crown counsel today [Friday].”

In the meantime, however, since the woman has paid the fee for costs associated with the seizure and has met conditions to ensure the dogs’ welfare, the chihuahuas must go back, as laid out in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Drever said she never indicated that the SPCA would pursue an order of custody. It is a time-consuming process that is often less effective than returning the animals and monitoring their condition, she claimed.

The farm is not a puppy mill, Drever stressed. There were several other animals, including dogs, that were being adequately cared for, she said. And the dogs seized did have acceptable facilities, but for some reason they weren’t being housed in them.

“There were clean pens with water, but they were empty,” she said. “The dogs were being kept in a crate. That’s why we seized them.”

When the dogs were seized, many were suffering from skin and dental problems, including one that had an infection from the mouth right through to the sinuses, she said. They also didn’t have access to clean water, but Drever said they were not starving nor suffering from a variety of illnesses, as has been suggested.

Some of the foster families tell a different story, however. In a letter to the SPCA board of directors, Nikki Boechler of Gibsons said the dog she received “was so malnourished and not exercised that she was well under what her normal weight should be. She chewed her paws incessantly and her ears were so chapped, I didn’t think they were even supposed to have fur on them.”

Josh Best said they were afraid to walk on grass because they had never done it before.

The SPCA will regularly monitor the dogs and won’t hesitate to seize them again if they are found to be in distress, said Drever, but that’s cold comfort to the outraged foster families who have spent two months bonding with the animals and don’t want to see them returned under any circumstances.

“I have been living under the illusion that your job was to protect animals, not charge a boarding fee then ship them back,” Boechler wrote in her letter. “Tell me what I can do to help change the laws so these poor helpless animals will not continue to be used as financial pawns.”

The owner may lose her animals yet, Drever said, if a judge finds her guilty in court and bars her from owning them.

The maximum penalty for a charge of cruelty to animals is six months in jail or a $2,000 fine.