The Victoria SPCA Winter Newsletter contained an article concerning "Chained Dogs" and the fact it was in fact a community problem and should be dealt with as a community issue which I questioned in a letter to Lorie Chortyk on Feb 20, 2004.

Her Feb 20, 2004 reply to my letter contained the following:

"The plight of backyard dogs is a very serious issue for us. Even if dogs have the basic requirements of food, water and shelter, it is no life for a dog to live without the socialization and interaction that they crave. You are not mistaken in thinking cruelty enforcement in our mandate -- we investigate thousands of complaints every year, including hundreds of cases involving neglected backyard dogs. But we do also call on the public to help us educate people and change attitudes and behaviours towards backyard dogs because it is only through widespread public pressure that we will see long-term change."

Yesterday interesting information concerning what would be taught by Nadine Gourkow and Dr. Rebecca Ledger at the "Let Live Conference" in Vancouver on July 7- 10 th was brought to my attention.

A longitudinal study of adopted shelter dogs in the UK has indicated that the more an adopted dog differs from the owner's expectation, the more likely it is to be returned to the shelter. This `Expectation Gap' can be minimised by a) ensuring that shelter dogs are trained appropriately to meet the expectations of their new guardians, b) matching assessed dogs with assessed owners, and c) ensuring that owners are provided with continued support in order to address behaviour problems as they arise. Rebecca Ledger will describe how matching temperament-tested dogs with expectation-tested owners has improved the number of successful adoptions from RSPCA shelters in the UK. Nadine Gourkow will then describe how this approach to re-homing is being implemented, validated and managed at BC SPCA rescue shelters in Canada. "

The fact that "owners are provided with continued support in order to address behavioural problems as they arise " and the fact that this has been" implemented, validated and managed at BC SPCA rescue shelters in Canada" perhaps should be mentioned to many of the shelters who obviously missed the memo:

This would include the Kamloops "rescue shelter" operated by the BC SPCA in Canada which suggests:

"Watson is a sixteen month White German Shepherd/Border Collie cross. He is neutered, and would be best as an outdoor dog. He is destructive when left indoors alone. He plays very well with other dogs, and can be quite timid in new situations. "

It is truly time for the BC SPCA to stop just TALKING....