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

THE SPCA JUSTIFIES ITS POUND CONTRACTS BY CLAIMING IT IS MORE HUMANE THAN PRIVATE CONTRACTORS. THE ELECTROTHANATOR TELLS THE TRUTH.
THE SPCA CALLS ITS BARE BONES, GRIM, DIRTY, LONELY, DISEASE-FILLED FACILITIES "SHELTERS" 
WHAT A CORRUPTION OF A GOOD, KIND, DECENT WORD THAT IS! 
(See also, SPCA Haves and Have-Nots, dirty cells for animals,
retreats to Harrison Hot Springs and other perks for the staff, click here)

THE SPCA JUSTIFIES ITS POUND CONTRACTS BY CLAIMING IT IS MORE HUMANE THAN PRIVATE CONTRACTORS.
THE ELECTROTHANATOR TELLS THE TRUTH.
From the AAS web page THE SPCA TRIES TO SILENCE AAS WITH A THREAT OF LIBEL

"From a document re the SPCA's insistence on using machines called eloctrothanators to kill dogs.

 ...'the report from Clint Davy, 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 from 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.'

 We also have a signed statement from an ex-employee of the Vancouver SPCA clinic.  This is an excerpt from that employee's statement...

  ..."One incident I recall was about a female dog who came in for spaying. She was supposed to recover in a kennel up front where people could watch her and make sure she didn't lick her stitches etc. She was a barker and annoyed the person on duty, so they put her way in the back in a concrete run alone. They obviously forgot about her, so it wasn't until later that night when I got an urgent phone call from a worker to come to the hospital right away, as there was a dog who would not get up off the floor. When I arrived, I discovered that her entire spay incision had opened up, the blood had dried and was stuck to the floor so she couldn't move, and her insides were hanging out. Amazingly she licked my hand, wagged her tail, and gave me a pleading look with her eyes to help. I phoned the vet and asked him to come down and stitch this poor dog back together again, since I could see she was ok otherwise. The vet refused, gave a short laugh and said "tell the dog I'm sorry", and told me to euthanize her on the spot. Grudgingly, I did as I was told. It was really sad."

God help you if you're no longer wanted by your "owner".  The SPCA will kill you if your owner pays.
See "Killing for Cash". (Note: after several years of exposure of this policy by AAS, in 2003, the BC SPCA changed its policy and no longer kills for cash, another AAS victory  for animals)

It is clear that the SPCA cannot cope with so many animals in its "care". And yet it will not stop taking owner-surrendered animals when it is full, and it still has pound contracts which also fill it up.   Those two policies are why the SPCA has so many animals in its "shelters" (what a corruption of a good, kind, decent word) and why it must kill thousands and neglect even more.
(Read more about the business of sheltering, click here)  

The SPCA has pound contracts and a pound cannot say it has no room, so all the animals suffer from lack of care and attention, and when it takes another animal in, another animal is going to have to die or all the animals are going to get less care and attention than they deserve. 

This has been confirmed to us over and over, but Brigitta MacMillan has described in detail how cats fare at the Maple Ridge SPCA: see photo, click here

HEALTH: New animals were not routinely checked for health and animals are adopted out with fleas, ear mites and worms. Cats are not consistently given inoculations; some are and some are not, for no better reason than that staff didn't have time when the cat was received. Cats frequently sit in a cage for hours without food and water because staff don't get around to them. Surely this should be their top priority. Last summer and this summer the shelter ran completely out of canned cat food and rather than buy more, as we had been assured they could do by SPCA Executive after bringing it to their attention, they fed all the cats, from tiny kittens to elderly cats, donated dry food that was stale dated by several months. Pet supply stores have told us they have donations for the SPCA but that no one comes to pick it up.

Upper respiratory infections (URI) - a cat flu - are very common in shelters. In a home a cat can recover fairly quickly. In the stress of shelter life, URI can be serious. It's highly contagious among cats though it cannot affect other animals or humans. Young kittens die from it and their death takes days. The SPCA adheres rigidly to a rule that all strays must be held for a number of days (varies from shelter to shelter) in case an owner comes forward to claim the cat. Only 2% of cats are ever reclaimed by an owner. But nearly every cat will contract URI before the waiting period is over. Yet staff put tiny kittens and terrified older cats into a room full of sick cats knowing that they will contract the illness and knowing some will die from it. Staff have rejected volunteer's suggestions for protecting healthy cats from sick ones by setting up a makeshift isolation ward or by fostering them over the mandatory holding period. Everything is done for the convenience of the bureaucracy at the cost of the animals.
Brigitta MacMillan

From a document re the SPCA's insistence on using machines called eloctrothanators to kill dogs. (AAS has all the reports and letters.)  Here is an excerpt...

 ...'the report from Clint Davy, 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 in 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.'

The Vancouver Sun, March 13, 1981

Clint and Tina, newspaper.JPG (101391 bytes)

The Vancouver Sun, June 1981

Electrothanator.JPG (69292 bytes)

The SPCA only stopped using the electrothanator when Davy held a demonstration outside its offices and the media paid attention.
And even then it was several years before the last one was phased out.

The Sun Tues., June 19, 1984
 Cruel SPCA dog electrocutions cited
 By KIM BOLAN

 Stray dogs around the Lower Mainland are being subjected to painful electrocution with out-dated equipment, a former director of the Vancouver branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals claims.
 Clint Davy, an SPCA director for four years, said electrocution equipment found inhumane by the Vancouver SPCA is still being used by some B.C. shelters, including the Langley SPCA.
“Vancouver discontinued electrocutions last July, but nine B.C. shelters are still using the machines, even though our study showed them to be inhumane,” Davy said.
He said electrodes are placed on a dog’s ears and two electrical shocks are given before the animal is killed.
 “ The problem is that there’s no way of telling if the animals is unconscious after the first shock because its paralyzed,” Davey said.
 He said a report on the ineffectiveness of electrocution was submitted to the BCSPCA’s annual meeting last April, but that the method is still being used to destroy strays.
 The machines were built several years ago without a Canadian standard in existence and they have not been repaired or maintained, Davy said.

Clint Frearson, a spokesman for the Langley SPCA, said dogs are electrocuted because it is cheaper than other methods of euthanasia.

“We use the box (electrocution). It’s a 100-per-cent improvement over what some of the pounds are using,” Frearson said.
He said the Langley SPCA runs on donations alone, without funds from a municipal government, unlike other SPCAs.
Davy said he couldn’t estimate the cost difference, but that “it costs considerably more for a vet to come in and give a lethal injection,” which is the method now being used by the Vancouver SPCA.
Meanwhile, in North Vancouver, 25 concerned residents approached city council Monday to request an investigation into the practices of the SPCA there.
Joy Gilmore said her group wants to take over control of the animal shelter because they believe animals are not being properly attended.
  “Most of the animals coming out of there are not in good shape,” Gilmore said. She said her group has veterinarians backing them, though she wouldn’t name any.
 North Vancouver city council agreed to investigate the SPCA, which has a contract to run the animal shelter funded jointly by North Vancouver’s city and district councils.
 Provincial SPCA director Al Hickey could not be reached for comment.

INFORMATION BULLETIN

 ELECTROTHANATOR –  DIRECTOR’S PRESS RELEASE OF JUNE 1984

CAROL DARBY- Director, Vancouver Regional Branch, BC SPCA

 The B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is not living up to its name!

 This protest is focusing on the continued use of the inhumane and unsafe electrocution boxes employed for killing dogs in many BC SPCA shelters throughout the Province, even though the Vancouver SPCA halted their use immediately in July of last year as a result of their own investigation.

 Despite irrefutable proof, which has been known to BC SPCA management for 9 months (and some of it since 1974), that the machines used by the BC SPCA do not conform to established humane criteria, and could be causing an excruciatingly painful death to thousands of dogs, the Directors of the BC SPCA are allowing them to be used for up to a further two years.

 This is not acceptable!

 The Vancouver investigation also showed that there was a prevalent sloppy attitude by SPCA Management towards all euthanasia methods. Contrary to the guidelines of the BC SPCA, staff training was pitifully inadequate, equipment was poorly designed and maintenance was deplorable!

 The competence of the BC SPCA Directors and Management to ensure the humane destruction of unwanted animals is open to severe criticism, and this appalling situation demands immediate investigation and rectification.

 This, and other serious deficiencies in the priorities of the BC SPCA, should be of grave concern to all animal lovers.

 Help us reform the SPCA!

 Ms. Carol Darby

© 2002  
Animal Advocates Society of B.C. Canada

Edited: Nov 8/02