AAS has said repeatedly that it wants a financially strong SPCA that can truly prevent cruelty, and we have said that some of the reforms the SPCA made were right, such as bringing all branches under control of the Society, and divesting itself of pound (dog disposal) contracts, and weeding out the career animal killing employees.

But there is another SPCA disaster looming on the horizon and if the raid on Forgotten Felines cat shelter doesn't ruin the SPCA (and we are afraid that it is going to as it is not over yet), the next one will.

Do the President and the Board of the BC SPCA get it yet? They are being alarmingly obtuse. They said they would reform from the old animal-killing, money-pocketing style of business, but they hired a salesman and spent wildly on re-imaging. When that was a disaster (for which the SPCA is still paying), they hired Daniell, who, although passionate about animal cruelty, has shown himself to be alarmingly unprincipled several times, the raid on Forgotten Felines only being one example of his predilection to poor choices.

In January of 2003, AAS warned Mr Daniell that some employees would dirty the name of the SPCA and we named three in particular. One of those employees quickly went on to blot his copybook badly and he is now gone. The other two are still there. One was part of the raid on Forgotten Felines, and the other is responsible for the looming disaster. In our opinion, Mr Daniell has shown by his support of their actions that he likes employees who bully.

Whatever financial ground was gained by high-profile puppymill seizures has almost certainly been lost to the raid on Forgotten Felines. And as we say, this one is not over yet and is going to get worse for the SPCA.

The SPCA cannot be "fixed" with quick-fix spin and ad campaigns and raids on the innocent.

The Society, that we want to survive to go on to better things, can only be strong financially if it is strong morally and ethically. We said that from the beginning. What part of honest does the SPCA Board of Directors not understand?

So... BC SPCA president and board of directors? Is it time to choose principle and honesty yet?