Once upon a time I believed that the SPCA cares about humane treatment of and quality of life for animals.  I'm sorry to say that experience has proven otherwise.
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For many months I had observed a neighbourhood dog who lived outside on a concrete slab, chained by the neck 24 hours a day, never played with and never walked.  I visited this dog several times every day, morning,
noon and night.  I observed how bored and unhappy she was (never a toy to play with and no view but a fence), and how crippled by lack of exercise she was becoming.  I never saw what she was fed but did notice her filthy water bucket and the excrement she had to walk in.  I saw her become more and more depressed and lose her spirit.  The indignities to her spirit and her body that humans were forcing on her, went to my heart.

When I started to lose sleep over her plight I made a report to the SPCA.  I was horrified when the Inspector told me that she had a wonderful home, a dog house with blanket, (it was too small for her to use comfortably and stuck in a blind corner) and loving "owners" who walked and played with her.  I asked him if he had visited the correct address because I had not seen what he had seen.  I asked him if he would visit the home again with me.  He refused, saying he had indeed visited the correct residence, that he spoke for those who didn't speak for themselves, and that if I didn't like it I could go over his head.  I was totally devastated.  I felt helpless and hopeless.  After all, if the SPCA didn't care about this poor dog, who would?   I write this letter because it is not right that the SPCA decides in 15 minutes whether a dog is humanely treated when a neighbour who sees that dog seven days a week, month after month, reports that that same dog is neglected or abused at the hands of the "guardian".

I have since found out that Burnaby adopted Humane Treatment of dogs bylaws several years ago, but the Burnaby SPCA didn't even mention them, nor did they try to find out if the owners of the chained dog they saw was telling the truth, or if I was.  They didn't ask any other neighbours.  They saw her chained up.  Why didn't it make them want to help her?

Joanna Burns,
Burnaby, BC