Because the BC SPCA has no policy that limits the surrender of unwanted animals, it is inundated daily with more animals than it can ever hope to properly help.

We have been told countless stories of sick dogs and cats, sold without having been examined by a veterinarian, sold with unaddressed medical needs, sold to people who cannot afford to address these medical needs, sold with instructions that the buyer take the animal right away to a vet for treatment, yet with no followup to ensure the buyer complies, some sick animals sold for a dollar, or sold two for the price of one.

Instead of limiting its intake so that it can truly help every sick animal it decides to "speak for", it chooses to select only a handful of the hundreds it receives, and use these few as fundraising causes and tools to improve public relations, and lets the rest take their chances.

We have been told of many examples of sick animals that the SPCA has shuffled off without treatment.

There is Toby the old black cocker spaniel, who arrived at Victoria branch on a Saturday, and went out Sunday, his chronically bad ears unseen and untreated by a vet. And Sally, a senior spaniel mix, came into Victoria SPCA with no medical history. No senior staff even looked at her, and she went out the door for free, in need of dental work. (Read full story below)

There is Ginger, a senior lab cross, who arrived at Victoria branch on Oct. 9th. Despite the fact that her teeth were bad, and she was an older dog, she still had not been seen by a vet by the time she was sold, on Oct. 24th. (Read full story below)

Bonnie and Rascal were sold as two for the price of one by Victoria SPCA, as they were older dogs, and Rascal in particular was in desperate need of dentistry. The SPCA sold them to a person on a fixed income who could not afford to address their medical needs. Months later, with no followup call from the SPCA to check on whether the required vet work had been done, Rascal and Bonnie still had not received the veterinary attention that the SPCA had told their new owner to take care of. (Read full story below)

Goldie was a sweet, sweet dog and she did not deserve to be made to suffer. She did not deserve to be sold from the shelter, rehomed, scared to death in the pound three times and finally treated when it was too late. She did not deserve the cruel treatment she received. She was surrendered for euthanasia for a reason and her needs should have been respected then. The Victoria SPCA had the obligation to either make her medically sound or euthanize her. (Read full story at "The Unhappy Story of Goldie - sold by the SPCA" http://www.animaladvocates.com/unhappy-ending-goldie.htm

Three cats, Winston, Chief, and Jasper were "rehomed' in seriously ill condition. Two got lucky - one didn't. (Read their stories below)

All these animals were received, warehoused, then sold by the SPCA. None received the medical attention they needed while property of the SPCA. Yet Craig Daniell stated on CTV news November 3rd : "As long as I'm here with the Society animal care is going to be my main priority."

Mr. Daniell can't be in all places at all times, and he can't know firsthand about the condition of each animal at his "shelters". But what he can do is stop talking about miracles happening every day in his branches, and start directing his staff to do the work required for the animals in their charge so that statements about animal care being the main priority don't sound quite so ludicrous to those of us who visit the branches frequently, and see what conditions are really like.

What is worse though, is that the SPCA routinely picks one animal out of the hordes that it neglects to treat, and uses this animal as a poster child for SPCA caring in order to raise money.

Take Nanook, for example. Nanook is a shepherd mix with a mangled hind leg. Nanook's owner had allowed the dog to live this way for at least eight months, in fact, he admitted to the vet that he had done this to Nanook's leg with a 2x4. The vet gave Nanook to the Victoria SPCA, thinking it would investigate the owner for cruelty. The Victoria SPCA returned Nanook to his owner, damaged leg still unattended.

Only when it looked like this story was going to get out did the SPCA get Nanook away from his owner again, and now he is being used as a shameless appeal for money.

This is NOT making animal care the "main priority", and Mr. Daniell needs to put a leash on some of his staff, or they will be the undoing of his Society.

See how the SPCA markets Nanook's misery:

http://www.spca.bc.ca/victoria/dogs/nanook.htm
So how is it that Nanook gets promoted, while a hundred others are shuffled out without a penny spent on them? Is there a spinning of a bottle or a drawing of straws? Or is it the threat of public exposure that forces the SPCA to do for a select few animals what Craig Daniell claims it does for all of them? The threat of public exposure didn't only get Nanook a ticket to surgery on his leg. It also got Rascal and Bonnie's teeth cleaned.

But the SPCA would not be in this terrible mess if only it would limit its intake to a number of animals that it knows it can truly save. Limited surrender: don't take on what you can't honestly rescue.

Jennifer Dickson
Animal Advocates Society of BC
Research Co-ordinator

Nanook....