BC SPCA CEO Craig Daniell, in an interview with CTV that aired Nov. 2, 2003, states: "As long as I'm here with the Society, animal care is going to be my main priority, be that in terms of providing resources to our shelters or providing cruelty investigations."

A couple of days later the following was released:

November 5, 2003. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. The BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals announced today that it is taking further drastic measures to address its 2003 budget deficit. "The fact that we will have to move more slowly than we had hoped toward some of our goals is frustrating, but it does not mean that we have lost sight of our vision or our commitment to make BC a province where every animal is treated with respect and compassion," says Daniell. "In spite of our current challenges I believe the BC SPCA can be immensely proud of what we accomplish every day, in every corner of this province."

Horses slowly starving to death in -35 degree weather is clearly nothing to be proud of. Horses dying painfully and slowly is also not something that can easily be explained away by putting a "spin" on it. Slow painful death cannot be excused either.

In the Province Newspaper on Mar. 17, 2004 BC SPCA Public Relations spokesperson, Lorie Chortyk, said that due to cuts, the SPCA doesn't have provincial constables in communities north of Prince George, but, instead, they have "very experienced volunteers." Lorie Chortyk is also quoted as saying " Definitely in the north there is a huge lack of [SPCA] resources".

The huge lack of resources exists in more places than North of prince George. That was apparent when I was involved in rescuing a dog from the Queen Charlottes. I was horrified to learn that not only was the SPCA branch run completely by volunteers but this one volunteer in particular was also spending her own money to fly animals out of the Charlottes as they had no chance of a happy life there. When this dog was rescued the BC SPCA's involvement was basically nil except for the fact they didn't stop us. As long as all monies spent were raised independently of the BC SPCA we could treat the dog to stabilize him and fly him to Victoria for foster , provide the rest of his medical needs and finally place him in the perfect home. But this happened only to one dog. We raised the funds and tried to help another but the one volunteer involved was unable to seize him and the owner would not surrender him. "Timber" will continue to live out his his life chained to a boat.

There are other animals in the Queen Charlottes and all over the North and other parts of the Province who also require intervention. How many other horses are there starving to death in the freezing cold we are unaware of?

The BC SPCA is in responsible for enforcing the PCA Act and it is also responsible for the distribution of funds to all parts of the Province to ensure the PCA Act is enforced .

The BC SPCA restructured itself to redistribute funds but clearly it has not when you look at Dawson Creek or the Queen Charlottes.

The BC SPCA Website shows that the Dawson Creek Branch is only open 20 hours a week. The shelter shows 26 dogs and puppies on it's Petfinder site and 18 cats. This branch with its limited resources also has to cover the communities listed below. Unfortunately the website does not state the number of employees within the branch. My guess is there are many less than in any of the urban branches. The actual job functions the employees are responsible for are also not available on the website.

Shelter Hours of Operation:
12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
Closed Sundays, Mondays, & Holidays.

Serving the Following Communities:
Dawson Creek, Rolla, Groundbirch, Tumbler Ridge, Chetwynd, Pouce Coupe, Farmington and Arras

Contrast this to the Victoria Shelter which is open 7 days a week from 9 to 5:30 and that is presently going to be starting a capital building campaign to raise upwards of 1.5 million dollars to build a new state of the art shelter.

Penticton is also going to be building a new facility but again the contrast . Victoria has heated floors and beds for all the dogs and the Penticton SPCA is currently asking for donations of " Igloo doghouses (as our dogs are presently housed outside year round) ".

Those of us who live in the urban centres can only imagine the suffering of the animals in the rural communities and I for one would expect the BC SPCA take a serious look at the best means of redistributing funds to help these animals rather than threatening to close branches if enough funds aren't raised in their own communities to keep them open.

Selfishly and lavishly spending in one community or two while animals freeze to death and suffer in other unimaginable ways in other parts of the province is clearly unnacceptable.

Carol Sonnex
Victoria