Jan 14, 2003 Goldstream Gazette

By Rick Stiebel
News Gazette staff

Purchasing a pet from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals turned into a catastrophe for a Langford family.
Edna Jedinak, who paid $90 for a kitten from the Victoria SPCA in August, said she has spent close to $500 on veterinarian bills and other expenses incurred because the kitten had ringworm.
"It's a case of buyer beware," Jedinak said. "I'll never adopt another animal from the SPCA."
She had asked the SPCA to let her know if a polydactl kitten, a cat with an extra toe, became available because she already has a polydactl cat.
Penny Stone, office manager for the Victoria SPCA said although it is not common practice to do that, the SPCA agreed to try to accommodate Jedinak's request.
"We get people who want, for instance, a golden lab," Stone said. "By the time they come in and maybe decide they don't want that particular dog, it remains in the shelter while other people may have adopted it."
Jedinak, who also has two dogs, said she followed all of the precautions as recommended by the SPCA when she took the kitten home. That included keeping it isolated in her daughter's room away from the other animals for 10 days until it was acclimatized, and to ensure it didn't suffer from a respiratory ailment common to kittens.
When she brought the kitten to her vet for its second set of shots, she found out the kitten had ringworm.
Her daughter Paula, 11, also got ringworm and had to be treated with prescription medication.
"It was really itchy," Paula said.
"I had to sign the rights for the kitten, who her daughter named Snuggles, over to the SPCA while they treated it for ringworm for five weeks," said Jedinak, who checked on the cat's condition regularly and supplied some of its food.
"The SPCA refused to take any responsibility for the ringworm," Jedinak said. "They said Snuggles could have gotten the ringworm anywhere."
Stone said ringworm is a very common, very contagious condition that could have been picked up anywhere, including at the shelter.
The SPCA only took the kitten back into its care, which she said was not the usual practice, because Jedinak was so upset, Stone said.
"We went out on a limb for her," Stone said. "We are a shelter, not an animal hospital. We don't have vets here. We probably should never have taken it back, to begin with. I can't imagine why she's so upset."
Stone said it probably cost the SPCA $1,000 to care for the kitten because of veterinarian bills and medication, and staff had to sterilize the office it was kept in wearing protective garb every day.
What also irked Jedinak is that she keeps her pets indoors, and she is very meticulous about keeping her home clean.
She said the SPCA told her she would have to treat everything in her daughter's room that the kitten came in contact with.
"We had to replace the carpet, the bedding, the pillows and some toys, including a couple of large stuffed toys her daughter was quite attached to," she said.
Jedinak called Animal Crusaders, who offered her $20 to assist with her expenses.
"I told them to save it to help other animals," she said.
Jedinak had to take Snuggles back to the vet recently because the ringworm problem persists.
"That was another $32," said Jedinak, who is considering suing the SPCA in small claims court to try and recover the money she has spent so far.