WHY DID THE SPCA KILL PICASSO?                                                        2009

The SPCA protects the public by killing dogs for its City Hall masters.  It does this wherever it has a contract to control and dispose of dogs — where it is the dog-catcher.  In Surrey, where the SPCA also has the contract, the SPCA applied to the courts for orders to kill several dogs.  It took an animal-lover hiring a lawyer to stop it. How many of these contracts the SPCA has in BC it has always refused to tell AAS. AAS is being sued in part for harming the SPCA’s reputation, yet these dog control/disposal contacts make many animal-lovers very angry at it causing the loss of donations, as the SPCA has known for many years. We believe that the SPCA does more self-inflicted harm than AAS can ever do.

Nichola Murray tells “Picasso’s Story”...

I would like it if you used my story to tell public what happened to Picasso as I am thoroughly disgusted and upset with how the Burnaby SPCA handled things. I spent a lot of time with the dog, Picasso, and built a good relationship with him. I don't feel that the end result was warranted and I'm upset that I wasn't contacted.”

In November 2008, Nichola was walking her dogs in a Burnaby Park and saw Picasso running frantically in circles for an hour.  He was too frightened to be caught by Nichola so she phoned the SPCA.  They came briefly the next day but said they didn’t see him.  Nichola went back…
“I found 'Picasso' curled up in a ball, in the bushes. I was able, after a lot of work (over an hour or two), to get him into my vehicle, using food. When he put his front paws into the rear floor of my vehicle, I pushed him into my vehicle and called Burnaby SPCA to come and get him.

“Months went by, before a behavioural assessment was done and Picasso was very upset being stuck in the SPCA kennels. My partner and I attended to him any chance we could get. Picasso had some big fear issues regarding his collar. It was obvious to me that he had been abused, most likely, by a man. I took Picasso on several walks, on leash, and I NEVER had any problems. He even responded to me making him go around objects on leash, asking him to sit and to take treats nicely.”

In Burnaby there is a two-dogs limit. Nichola and her partner had two dogs already so they weren’t allowed to adopt Picasso. They obtained the services of a trainer who agreed to take Picasso out of the SPCA and work with his fear of men and being grabbed by the collar.  Being grabbed by the collar is offensive to all dogs.