Holly had a very rough start to life. At a year old she ended up at an SPCA. She was then sold to people who obviously didn't care about her. For the next 4 years she spent a life of loneliness in a backyard. She was not allowed inside, and was not given any kind of walks. An active, intelligent dog..a life of loneliness.

At five years old she was found by the Vancouver City Pound tied up on Commercial Drive, her eyes and ears infected. While at the pound she just about itched herself raw due to the stress of a shelter environment.

This is when she came to me as I volunteered at VCP. I cleaned her up, but she exhibited signs of anxiety: separation anxiety and such a huge amount of anxiety around dogs that she often attacked. Did all that isolation cause this anxiety? I wonder...such an active breed who needed to be kept busy.

She flourished at my house, and I found an agility class I could take her to with no other dogs around, and she excelled at this. We went on daily jogs and had a wonderful time. Finally, she was getting the stimulation she needed.

One day, 4 years after having her, she collapsed in my living room. In an absolute panic, I called a neighbour to come help me get her into my neighbour's car (I had flooded my engine in my panic!), and we took Holly to the vet. She was x-rayed, and I found out she had incredibly bad arthritis all along her spine. I was devastated.

Over the next year, it was getting harder and harder for Holly to walk,and she continued to get more and more 'cranky'. Her back end kept giving out on her. I can not help but wonder if all those years of just sitting on some porch added to this arthritis? It was then I had to make the difficult choice to say goodbye to Holly.

I blame the SPCA for not getting any breeding by-laws that would prohibit people from breeding any dog and selling that dog to someone who doesn't care. I further blame the SPCA for selling her to someone else, who again, didn't care.

Holly was lucky enough to have found me for the last half of her life...but how many dogs out there are not so lucky? Many, many, many more..
I hope Holly serves as a story as to why we so desperately need an honest SPCA.