My response to their emails:

May 26, 2004

Craig - Thank you for your prompt reply to the concerned emails sent. I truly hope you ‘believe’ and know how wrong that statement was - and unfortunately still is with the change that was made. I have read the responses over and over and I am still outraged at the fact that someone working for the spca could even write those words out without seeing anything wrong with it - then change it and think it is now better. BIG wake up call at how wrong things really are within the SPCA walls. People keep asking me “how can they do that? how can they say that?! That person should be fired!” What am I supposed to tell them??? I don’t have the answer so here I am writing you and I hope you’ll give me the answer to pass on.

The thing that has caused even more outrage with me is the pathetic response received from the Comox SPCA. How exactly is saying “doesn’t bark when restrained” any different then “doesn’t bark when tied up” ????? This is NOT acceptable! People who are prospective adopters to Kona should be made aware that he is a barker and will require certain things to stop the barking. Anyone with an ounce of animal knowledge knows he is barking for a reason. Dogs do not bark just to hear their own voice. They bark for a reason. He is sad, angry, alone, cold, hungry, in pain, wanting to be with his ‘family’ - so on and so forth. The problem needs to be FIXED. ‘Restraining’ him certainly isn’t the answer. It may fix the problem for the ‘humans’ but it only makes his life worse.

How about the SPCA educating prospective adopters on all the things that could help Kona ease the barking and making it clear that these things must be done to help Kona? There are a million things that would make him blossom and keep him busy so he doesn’t have the need to cry out for help with barking.

Here are a few education tools you could offer people:
1. List of local Doggy Daycares. If Kona is socialized and not kept alone he won’t need to bark.
2. List of local agility classes. If Kona is socialized and kept busy he won’t need to bark.
3. List of off leash dog areas in the area. If Kona gets lots of off leash exercise he won’t need to bark.
4. List of trainers to continue is knowledge. If Konas mind is kept busy he won’t need to bark.
5. List of requirements to adopt Kona:
Inside dog only
Not left alone more then 4 hours
never tied/restrained
Must be active family
Must have lots of exercise
So on and so forth.

This is SUCH a simple concept.

The above should go for ANY dog adopted from the SPCA - but especially dogs with issues.

I truly hope the adoptive process and the way these animals are dealt with starts to change. The animals finding the BEST home possible for them and their personalities and issues should be the #1 concern. Having bios written up like this is another incident where it is proven that this is NOT the case.

I suppose I should think of why the SPCA should even care. When the calls start to come in about Kona because he is ‘restrained’ to his doghouse in the backyard 24/7 - you won’t do anything anyway right? I mean YOU told them to ‘restrain’ him when he barks right? He has shelter, water and food right? They aren’t doing anything wrong right??

Please take this to heart. It is much more then just the words that were written in the bio. People look up to the SPCA for information on Animal Welfare - and when the information they are getting is that it is acceptable to perform a form of abuse on a dog they could be adopting - you truly have to realize something is wrong.

Jenn Wagoner,
Victoria