Mr. Daniell is quoted in Barbara Yaffe's column as saying that seized animals "are better off dead than living in such environments (as they were seized from) or spending their lives in a cage."

Heaven help the animals that the SPCA picks to seize for its next round of media grandstanding. In the past year alone Mr. Daniell has overseen the seizure of well over a thousand animals. Included in these seizures were over one hundred of Sylvia Rutledge's livestock and exotics, that were given back to her for $5,000 and Karen Raffles' eleven puppy mill dogs that were given back to her for $11,000.

Port Alberni Lhasa Apso breeders, who kept all their dogs in the house, only crating some at night (an accepted practice of animal management according to the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association's standards, which the BC SPCA endorses) had all their dogs seized and thrown into SPCA cages in the name of cruelty prevention. Two of their pups contracted Parvovirus while in SPCA care and died.

Thompson Okanagan puppy miller J.R. Pyke surrendered over 30 of his most neglected breeding dogs to the Kamloops SPCA in an attempt to avoid being raided. Kamloops SPCA warehoused the dogs, and despite many offers to foster, began killing them as the dogs were so terrified in their SPCA cells that they were unable to pass SPCA scientific assessment tests.

Mr. Daniell said these words to me last fall at an SPCA meeting: "If I seize one hundred dogs and I have to kill ten, I still consider that seizure to be a success." So essentially what Mr. Daniell told me is that he believes in collateral damage.

Taking an animal from a familiar cage only to stuff it into a strange cage is not cruelty prevention. Mr. Daniell is deluded if he thinks that most SPCA facilities are more humane than the average breeding kennel. There really is no difference. Breeders warehouse dogs and sell the offspring, SPCAs warehouse seized breeding dogs and either sell them or kill them if they fail scientific assessment tests. There is almost no humane rehabilitation and many offers of help from individuals and private rescue organizations are ignored. The seized are exploited via the media for donations, then all too often are killed or sold back to the abusers. They are collateral damage, and Mr. Daniell approves.

The SPCA shows no promise of reform under Mr. Daniell's direction. Its latest press release is proof that it is still more interested in marketing itself than restructuring itself to serve animals. Its latest press release regarding the conviction of Beaverdell dog breeder Gaston Lapointe is full of misinformation and misleading figures, designed to make the reader think that the SPCA did right by Mr. Lapointe's dogs. I am staggered at the gall of a Society that seems to presume that no one is watching.