Just for those reading Gail's message who don't know the roster at the SPCA, John van der Hoeven is the long-time boss of all the SPCA branches in BC and the director of the BC SPCA's pound contracting empire. SPCAs largely behave in the secretive, stonewalling, silent way they do under van der Hoeven's direction.

The months of buck-passing that Gail experienced would have made a lesser women give up - that's what thousands of complainants have done for decades. Complaints are subjected to the old "pea and shell" game, getting passed around and disappearing so often that complainants get so confused that they "lose the game". Not anymore.