In the next days the volunteer came to the shelter each day to bathe Dudley to get rid of his fleas and with the medical technician, treat his damaged skin and his infected eyes. Dudley improved rapidly, his skin healed, his coat became shiny and his eyes free of discharge. He had spring in his step and sparkle in his eyes. The volunteer then found a home for Dudley - in Parksville on Vancouver Island. Dudley would be going to live with the volunteer’s sister, a widow who lived alone, had a big back yard and a great love for animals. But there was a set-back. Dudley’s trip to his new home had to be delayed because while in the shelter he had developed kennel cough and he was confined to isolation. The volunteer brought in a bed for Dudley so he would not have to sleep on the bare, cement floor of his kennel and continued to visit him every day.

Finally, ten days later, Dudley’s adoption began. As always, he was very excited, leaping for joy when he saw his friend, the volunteer, arrive at the shelter. The volunteer fitted him with a new, red collar and leash. It was a happy, exciting day for both. The office was busy, so the volunteer waited outside with Dudley until their turn at the desk came. Dudley could not be taken into the office because he was not completely over his kennel cough and might infect a dog which was tethered there.

When their turn came, the volunteer tied Dudley to a bench (a bench she had donated to the SPCA), and entered the office to complete the adoption. Meanwhile a man who traps cats and brings them into the SPCA "shelter" to be killed, arrived with a trapped cat and his two children, a boy of about seven years and an older girl. The man was a regular visitor to the shelter with cats he has trapped. The man went into the office with the trapped cat and the children remained outside.

Suddenly there was a yelp from Dudley and a great commotion outside. Hurrying outside, the volunteer found Dudley huddling under the bench and the boy backing away with a rip in his sleeve. Dudley had nipped the boy on the arm. The wound was not bleeding, but the skin was broken. It was clear what Dudley had done to the boy, but not what the boy had done to Dudley to cause Dudley to react so. It was uncharacteristic of his gentle, friendly nature.

Another troubling condition I experienced at the Surrey shelter was the attitude of one staff member toward little dogs who were brought in as strays. They often would be tagged as "biters" or "fear biters" by her which was their death sentence. Sometimes these dogs would have matted coats. Twice I offered to clip and bathe these little dogs with matted coats when they came up for adoption. The first had been put down before I could get to the shelter. The reason given to me was that "its coat was all matted." For the second such dog, I arrived before it was put down. The staff member who tags dogs as "biters" stopped me as I was taking the dog out of its kennel to clip it. She told me that I could clip it if I wanted, but it was still going to be put down because it was a "biter". In handling the dog, I found it to be very well behaved until I tried to cut away the mats in its coat. Only then did it attempt to nip me. It was clear to me that it was biting because I was causing it pain. I asked the staff member if the dog could be tranquilized so I could clip away its matted fur. Her answer was a curt "No". The dog was put down. (Is there no accountability in the decisions to euthanize animals at the shelters? Surely it is not done on the decision of one staff member?

I hope that you will take time to read Dudley’s story, so you will have a clear picture of the events leading up to Dudley’s execution. You will perhaps understand then why I am so troubled by what you did to Dudley. You betrayed the trust Dudley’s owner put in you to find a caring home for him, and in your haste to have Dudley killed, you denied me any chance to talk to you and explain the circumstances of that afternoon.

When I signed on as a volunteer at the Surrey SPCA shelter, I expected to meet SPCA staff that shared my interest and concern about animals. Instead I found staff members who were tough and insensitive, dealing with the animals in their care as if they were handling inanimate objects rather than sentient creatures. Many a time I would leave the shelter feeling heartsick. I would return only because I felt the animals needed my protection. I found also that the volunteers fared not much better than the animals at the Surrey shelter. We were very much aware that the staff regarded us as a nuisance; we did not know if they feared that we threatened their jobs or whether they did not want us witnessing them at work. In any case, we spent our volunteer hours in the back taking care of the animals and doing pre-adoption counseling with the public, so we had little contact with the staff who spent most of their time in the office. Dogs at the Surrey shelter are forced to spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week in their small kennels, except for a three hour period on Thursday evenings when volunteers are allowed to take them out and walk them up and down the short lane of the shelter grounds. The Vancouver pound, with no humane mandate, has a seven days a week, eight hours a day volunteer dog-walking programme.

I had on another occasion talked to Brian Nelson after witnessing the killing of a healthy raccoon at the Surrey shelter. I called because I could not believe that the SPCA was in the business of killing wildlife. He did his "spin doctor" routine with me about the SPCA killing them so they would not be killed in less humane ways and then dismissed them as "vermin".