The SPCA is being very brave to do and say this. AAS would not give an animal to anyone on a reserve, no exceptions, because of the very real, and well-documented, treatment of animals by Natives on reserves. It is an absolute betrayal to give a helpless creature to reserve-dwellers, knowing what we all know. The risk is so real and so large that it cannot, and must not, be taken. It is not up to any of us in animal rescue/welfare to put the feelings of humans before the assured welfare of the animals we are sworn to protect. It is up to Natives to raise the standards of animal care on reserves, not for us to take chances with helpless lives. We have seen the levels of abuse and neglect that is the norm on reserves and until it changes, we have to stay true to our mandate.

Lykkemark states all the reasons to turn a person down that we all use,based on long experience. "Couples who work long hours and leave the animal alone, families who move frequently and cannot provide stability and young people who might have difficulty finding somewhere suitable to rent are examples of people who might be told they cannot adopt a dog, Lykkemark said.

"One of the first questions is whether the house has a fenced yard and the Va'a house was not fenced, although they were willing to put up a temporary fence immediately and later replace it with a permanent fence."

AAS does not accept "we are going to build the fence later" either.

"If they were not satisfied with its care in three months, the dog would be returned, he said."

Almost impossible to enforce. They would almost certainly claim discrimination then too.