"Thompson Regional Director Jeni Mason is to be commended for having the guts to stand at the microphone at today's BC SPCA Annual General Meeting and state that the SPCA (she named Kamloops branch in particular) still kills animals for space, and that in her opinion that is one of the biggest problems to be addressed."

Vancouver Courier Article May 28/03 RE: CAMP

"SPCA not killing as many animals

By Naoibh O'Connor-Staff writer

A little more than a year after the B.C. SPCA established its so-called "no-kill" policy, euthanasia numbers in its Lower Mainland shelters have dropped considerably.

Between 2001 and 2002, the organization recorded 40 per cent fewer animals put down in local shelters, with the largest reduction noted for cats, according to B.C. SPCA spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk.

The association's new rules, established in March of 2002, prohibit putting down animals unless they have untreatable health or aggression problems. It's part of an overall Companion Animal Management Policy, designed to ensure all adoptable pets find homes. Euthanizations at an owner's request are no longer performed.

When dogs are dropped off, they're assessed for adoptability using a process that determines how they react in various real-life situations, such as when they're startled or eating. Problem behaviour is recorded and treated where possible.

But the dip in euthanasia figures has failed to tone down criticism from animal-welfare groups like Citizens Yell for Accountability (CYA), a B.C. SPCA watchdog organization. Gary Gibson, one of CYA's directors who's also a canine behaviour specialist, doesn't trust statistics, which he says can be skewed to present a rosier picture. "If you want to skew the facts, all you have to do is shuffle off dogs somewhere else, though I'm not saying they are."

Gibson specializes in dealing with aggression issues-he assesses and works with 400 to 500 dogs annually. He maintains that resources such as foster homes weren't put in place prior to the implementation of the no-kill policy, which means that staff may be pressured to euthanize dogs that are borderline aggressive for lack of other options.

Gibson also said staff who test dogs for aggressive behaviour don't have adequate training. Lack of experience with interpreting bad behaviour can lead to inappropriate conclusions about animals, he said, pointing out testers might not be aware of options for correcting aggressive behaviour. "They're not looking at why a dog is behaving this way-'why' is more important than the fact that he is," he says.

"[The BCSPCA] may be making some headway here, but they haven't got the support systems in place to make it successful in the long term. I'm not knocking that they're trying, but I think they're making mistakes on how they're implementing it."

Last week Doug Brimacombe, the organization's CEO who introduced the no-kill policy, left the association, although it's not clear whether he quit or was fired."