Animal Advocates of B.C.
A COOPERATIVE OF ANIMAL-LOVERS AND ACTION-TAKERS

PORT ALBION, (B.C.) DOG DEATH INVESTIGATION
Photos of the dog are at the bottom

C. Horvath has been helping as many of the animals as possible, working with AAS to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome them.  Horvath and AAS have combined their talents on the investigation below.   Horvath did all the investigative work and AAS did the mentoring and editing, and its web is doing the exposure and reforming.  This is the role AAS played so successfully in exposing and reforming the BC SPCA - collecting evidence, getting reports from animal-lovers, teaching them how to investigate, following leads, writing seamless reports, connecting all the dots.  Our mountain of evidence against the BC SPCA can be read at WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE SPCA? and all over our web. ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF WEB PAGES.

Our work and our web forced the BC SPCA to reform.  Many had tried for fifty years, but all had been successfully deflected by not having enough evidence and by being dismissed by the SPCA to the media as radical animal rightists or disgruntled volunteers, employees, and directors.  The most documented example of a failed attempt to expose the SPCA is from Clint Davy who, while on the board of the Vancouver SPCA in the 1980s, valiantly tried to reform and expose the SPCA for its brutal methods of killing dogs with a machine called an electrothanator.  Davy was successful in forcing the SPCA to eventually stop using this machine, but not until he held a demonstration (asking the SCPA got him nowhere) and invited the media.  The SPCA backed down, but some branches continued to use the machine for years.  Here is an excerpt from Davy's statements which AAS obtained.

 ...the report from Clint Davy, while a director of the Vancouver Regional SPCA, who was voted off the board of the Vancouver SPCA for being too humane (along with five other directors who only asked that the Vancouver SPCA stop using the electrothanator and the gas box), and a UBC engineer, describes how every electrothanator in all Vancouver Regional shelters was haywired and uncalibrated and how none of the staff were trained it its proper use; how the dogs burned because of improper use of the electrodes; how instead of using the rear-leg electrode which draws the current from the ears to the back leg thus going through the heart and resulting in a quick death, the employees made the dogs stand in water, often resulting in the current going from the ears through the front legs, not killing the dog, and so that the procedure had to be repeated sometimes five to six times.  Davy also reports incidents of terrified and injured dogs being forcefully dragged into the machines which stank of burned hair and the feces of terrified dying dogs.

HORVATH'S REPORT

November 25, 2001

 Re:  Dog found dead, tied to a rock, near Port Albion.

November 11, 2001, my friend and I were exploring an old logging road near Port Albion (see attached map), when I noticed an animal that appeared to be deceased, in a pullout off the road.  This area is heavily wooded and isolated.  We parked the car, and walked over to see what it was, and found it to be a dog.  This dog appeared to be a Chow mix, yellow-brown in colour, medium in size.  There was no collar or identification.  It was lying on its side, with a yellow poly rope tied to its body in the style of a body harness, and. attached to a large rock. We saw no signs such as blood, injuries caused by a beating, a bullet hole, or a struggle to explain the cause of death, but as the dog had not chewed through the poly rope, we believe that it did not have time to escape its fate. We were not able to determine the cause of death, except that the cause of death was not natural or humane. (Pictures attached)

We drove to a local  veterinarian clinic and asked if they had seen the dog or had any knowledge of what happened to it and who may have owned it.  The vet told us that "it's a sad story, the dog was deliberately tied there and left to die, over a family dispute". We were told that the vet had seen what we saw four days earlier, and the dog was already dead at that point, and that it looked similar to another dog that the clinic had treated in the past.  We were told that the vet   was able to track down the owner of  the dog's father and I was told by the vet  to "call the people who own the _____Store, which is located in the village of ______, near Port Albion, to find out more information on what happened, because they own one of the littermates and the dead dog’s sire.  The vet then stated that they know who owned the deceased dog, and why it was tied to the rock and left to die, but did not name this person.  The vet also stated that the Ucluelet RCMP had been phoned by the clinic and informed the vet that they were "not interested in coming out to have a look".

November 12 -  I drove back out to the location to take pictures of the dog with my digital camera.  The dog was still in the exact position that I had left it.

 November 12 -  I took the pictures to the Tofino RCMP and spoke to Cst. Derrick Donovan, relaying the details of what I had found as well as showing him the photos.  In addition, I left a detailed map showing where the dog could be found, and the vet clinic's phone number, as well as the details of what the vet had told me about the dog and people involved.  I was told that the file was going to be sent to the Ucluelet RCMP division for further investigation.

 November 13 -  I called the Ucluelet RCMP division and spoke to Cst. Rob Allan, the officer investigating the case.  He informed me that he had spoken to Irene Towell, Manager of the Port Alberni SPCA.  He told me that Ms. Towell informed him that in order for a cruelty charge to be pressed, there must be evidence that the dog died of starvation and that if the dog was shot or beaten and left there "it's not considered cruelty", but if it was left there to starve to death "it is considered cruelty”.  I repeated my statement of how my friend and I discovered the body.   Since Cst. Allan had not yet spoken to the vet to get a statement, or had looked at the dog's body, I told him the information that the vet had related to me, regarding what the vet had found out about what happened to the dog, who owned the dog, and who knew what happened to it.  I gave him the phone number of the _____Store as well.  I also told Cst. Allan that I had the pictures on digital camera and would email the pictures to him, which I did immediately after the phone conversation ended. 

November 13 - I then made a phone call to the _____Store, and informed the man who answered that I had found a dog that was dead, out in the bush and had been told that he could tell me what happened to the dog.  The response he gave me was that he knew who owned the dog, and not to worry about it.  That was the end of the conversation, as he would not tell me his name, who the owners were, or what had happened.  He did say the dog belonged to a family from the Port Albion/Ucluelet area, and the family knew the dog was dead. 

November 13 -  I called Dr. Jamie Lawson of the Vancouver SPCA, and told him everything that I had discovered so far.  He asked me to email the pictures to him and told me that he would contact Irene Towell of the Port Alberni SPCA, and that she would contact me next. 

 November 16 -  I had not heard from Irene Towell, so I called the Port Alberni SPCA and was connected to Ms. Towell.  She confirmed that she had spoken with Cst. Allan and had received the photos of the deceased dog via email.  She informed me that not much more could be done, as there are no witnesses or direct contacts, especially due to the fact that the vet appeared to not be cooperating by divulging the information that was given to me on Sunday November 11, 2001.  Unfortunately, the vet told Cst. Allan that (the vet) could not tell how the dog died, and had no further information to share with the RCMP or SPCA.

 November 17, 2001 – I called the ____Store again to ask more questions and talked to a cooperative lady by the name of _______, who told me that the dog is a littermate of the dog they own.  She said the deceased dog belonged to a family from _____.  She said the dog was taken out into the bush, tied to the rock, and either beaten or left to die of starvation.  She said that “it would have been less cruel if they had shot the dog”.  She also told me that she was related to the deceased dog’s owner.

 C Horvath

 cc:  Dr. ______, Veterinarian   

      Cst. Rob Allan, Ucluelet RCMP , 1712 Cedar St., Ucluelet, BC   250-726-7773

     Irene Towell,  Port Alberni SPCA , 4936 Broughton, Port Alberni, BC   250-723-5269

     Mr. Michael Steven, President, BC SPCA, 322-470 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC, V6C 1V5

     BC VMA,  155-1200 West 73^rd Avenue, Vancouver, V7P 6G5

warning -graphic photos

December 1, 2001

Michael Steven, President, BC SPCA,
Douglas Brimacombe, CEO, BC SPCA,
John van der Hoeven, Director of Field Operations, BC SPCA,

Re:  C. Horvath's November 25/01 report: Dog found dead, tied to a rock, near Port Albion.

Could you please tell us if the BC SPCA will be investigating this matter further, and if so, will you please keep C. Horvath and AAS informed of your investigation?

Yours truly,

Judy Stone, President,
Animal Advocates Society of B.C.

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