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A
letter from petition organizer, Karen Stiewe:
November 12,
2012
Over the past few years, seizures
of dogs by Dog Control Authorities have been on the rise
throughout the Province.
This law gives Dog Control Authorities absolute powers and we
have been working on getting this law changed by approaching
MLA’s throughout the Province with the attached Petition to
amend the Law. Government petitions must follow the rules which
I have also attached.
Here in Kelowna, BC, Shadow, the Malamute was held in the
Kelowna Dog Pound for 15 months before release; in Comox, two
Newfoundland dogs, Chum and Champ, were held for 9 months and
luckily were recently given “interim release” pending the Judges
verdict on Dec. 6th. However, the dogs’ owner, Mrs. Edith
Manseau passed away from the stress of the impoundment of her
beloved pets and was never reunited with them. Another German
Shepherd dog Terrace has been held for 7 months pending trial on
Dec. 10 and 11. My own
German Shepherd dog
was confined for 5 months. We are doing everything we can to
help in these cases. Dogs are being confined long term in short
term facilities pending court dates often a year away due to
court backlogs. This is animal cruelty!
The dog “Diesel” has now been held in Kelowna for 20 months!
The owner, Mr. Dave Smith, is now seeking to appeal the
Provincial Court Judge’s decision to destroy Diesel. Diesel was
assessed by court expert behaviorist Gary Gibson as
non-aggressive, but the Judge said he did not have the ability
to grant a conditional release under our Community Charter BC
Law. The Supreme Court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 17th and
Rebeka Breder is confident the case has good chance to succeed.
The problem the owner has is lack of funds to support the
Supreme Court case and we are desperately trying to raise funds
to support this case, not only to save Diesel, but also because
this case has the ability to change how our DD Act is
interpreted by Judges and legal authorities. Diesel’s case will
decide between two Supreme Court rulings: one ruling says that
Judges cannot grant conditional release; the other ruling says
that Judges can.
Is your organization able to assist with legal funds which could
be paid directly to the Solicitor, Ms. Rebeka Breder in
Vancouver? Also, are you able to approach MLAs in your area
with the Petition to Amend the Community Charter?
Kind regards,
Karen Stiewe
Kelowna, BC |
