THE WATCHDOG
Posted By: AAS
Date: Sunday, 7 August 2005, at 7:13 a.m.

THE SPCA AND THE "RESERVES PROBLEM"

There is no denying that the way animals are treated on Native reserves is the worst in BC, in fact in all of Canada, and unless this fact is addressed by the BC SPCA there will be no prevention of cruelty on reserves by the SPCA.

The SPCA has avoided the expense and time of addressing this huge problem by lying. It has said over and over to many people that it can't go on a reserve without an invitation or permission. We even were told by a member of an SPCA's Community Council just last month that her long-time SPCA manager told her this.

The lie is certainly effective. Not one person who has told AAS that they were told that lie by the SPCA, even by senior SPCA Constables, questioned the veracity of the excuse to do nothing. AAS is then contacted in despair and that is how we find out these stories of abuse that go on right in our neighbourhoods that are so shocking that most people can't stomach hearing them.

The voices of reserve animals must be heard, but the SPCA is shutting them up when it says it can't legally go on reserves to investigate a report of cruelty. The PCA Act covers every square inch of BC and does not except reserves. The SPCA can and does get paid to do dogcatching/disposal on a few reserves, but that is no help to the suffering dogs. It's time for everyone to speak for reserve animals since the SPCA won't.

Proof that the SPCA can go on reserves to investigate cruelty

Posted By: AAS
Date: Sunday, 7 August 2005, at 7:26 a.m.

To Eileen Drever,
Senior Animal Protection Officer,
BC SPCA

June 28, 2005

Dear Ms Drever,

I would like to know if the SPCA is allowed to go onto Reserves to investigate a reported offence under the Criminal Code or the PCA Act.

I have tried several times to report instances of abuse, including shooting dogs and receiving bounty for each "tail" brought in to the Band, neglecting dogs to the point of dogs freezing to death in subarctic temperatures because of lack of shelter, as well as starvation, kicking, hitting. I have been told by SPCA staff that the SPCA can only go onto Reserves by invitation of the Band - is this correct? I was under the impression that the Criminal Code and the PCA Act covers the whole province including Reserves, is this correct information?

Please let me know ASAP -

Thank you,
Dianne Sellin

Drever's answer:

Ms. Sellin,

Thank you for your e-mail, as you are aware the SPCA enforces Provincial as well as Federal legislation. The Society has been successful in the past enforcing Federal legislation and we currently have a case before the courts using our Provincial statute. The Society as been successful prosecuting instances of animal abuse/neglect on reservations, some of which resulted in the offender being incarcerated.
As a common courtesy, if we receive a complaint on a reservation we will speak with a member of the Band Council advising we will be conducting and investigation and if necessary ask the local RCMP to attend with us.

If you feel your complaint is not being taken seriously, please advise me and I will investigate further.

Regards,
Eileen Drever.

Notice that though Drever won't give a direct answer, she does not deny that the SPCA can go on reserves to investigate reports of cruelty.

Native lawyer, Linda Locke, calls SPCA denial b.s.
Posted By: AAS
Date: Sunday, 7 August 2005, at 7:39 a.m.

Linda Locke of Hazelton BC, was contracted by the SPCA in 2003 to write a report on the state of animal welfare on BC reserves and to make recommendations for the alleviation of animal suffering on reserves. Ms Locke is an animal lover who in conversations with AAS said that she is very disappointed that the SPCA did not implement any of her reports recommendations. The SPCA owns her report and so she is not able to tell us the details of it, but she recommended a mobile spay/neuter initiative among other recommendations.

Nor can Ms Locke say what she was paid for her report, and the SPCA won't say either, so there is no way of knowing if the SPCA paid Ms Locke the full amount of the grant or a lesser amount and if a lesser amount, how it spent the remainder of the grant.

Ms Locke said it is b.s. for the SPCA to say it can't go on reserves without an invitation.

BC SPCA: July 25/03

First Nations Animal Welfare Review

Thanks to a grant from the Summerlee Foundation the Society has been able to begin a review assessment of animal welfare issues in First Nations communities. Part of this initial work will focus on developing relationships and contact persons, as well as estimations of the numbers of animals and the services available for their care.

The assessment report will be the basis for creating a solution to pet overpopulation in First Nations communities, which impacts animal welfare, and health and safety concerns for First Nations communities. Animals from First Nations communities are responsible for a significant percentage of animals in BC SPCA shelters.

http://www.summerlee.org/recent.anim.0003.html

British Columbia SPCA/Canadian Initiative
Vancouver, British Columbia

support for feasibility study regarding mobile spay/neuter services to address the companion animals of First Nations Communities in northern British Columbia

962902

$23,247.72

$23,247.72

Strategic Initiative

9/25/2002

A typical example: Dog gives birth after legs broken two weeks prior
Posted By: AAS
Date: Sunday, 7 August 2005, at 7:47 a.m.

A native woman had called WAG (a rescue society in Whistler BC) and said that her dog was hit by a car and pregnant and was giving birth. When I got there the woman told me that the dog had been hit by a car and that for two weeks the dog had dragged her back legs because the car had broken them. Because she was pregnant, she didn't want the dog to go to the vet. When I saw the dog I had never seen anything like it. The dog was swollen in the vagina area like I have never seen. I have witnessed dogs giving birth and this is nothing like that. She couldn't move and was dying.

I took the three puppies home with me that night and they slept in my bed. I was told that it would be okay to do this so they would not become dehydrated overnight. It was probably the most rewarding things I have ever done. The next morning I took them to Jody Stockfish at WAG and they were taken to the vet and they were put on a special formula and antibiotics. She nursed and took care of them for about one or two months and one by one they died. I know that it was really hard on her and she was really upset about the whole thing. It is not something I will ever forget.

The reserve has this thing where they feel the animals live as one in nature and it is not for us to interfere. But in nature you don't find cars. In nature animals help each other and are much smarter than those who depend upon us for help. They are not being raised in nature and they are like children and they need us. They don't understand this. I'm not saying everyone out there is like this. But there is a large amount of abuse and neglect that goes on and WAG does take a lot of animals from that area as well as Pemberton.

Elleanor Matthews
Pemberton BC
Ex-SPCA Agent

Dog fighting on reserves ignored by the SPCA
Posted By: AAS
Date: Sunday, 7 August 2005, at 7:57 a.m.

Unknown to the average person is the existence of dog fighting on Native reserves, especially in the Fraser Valley.

But not unknown to the SPCA. It has known for years and has told complainants the same lie: that it can't do anything without permission from the Band.

Dog fighting is illegal under the Criminal Code and inflicting cruelty is illegal under the Criminal Code and the PCA Act and the SPCA has every legal right to investigate it.

The most complete report of the SPCA lying to avoid an investigation described wounded dogs being thrown in the river, run over, and/or left to die.

The local SPCA Constable told the complainant that the SPCA could not just go on the reserve. SPCA constable are trained to enforce the animal cruelty provisions of the Criminal Code and the PCA Act so it is not credible that none of them know that they have jurisdiction over reserves.

WAG and the Mount Currie Reserve: SPCA says it can't go on the reserve in spite of shocking reports of cruelty
Posted By: AAS
Date: Sunday, 7 August 2005, at 8:03 a.m.

----- Original Message -----
From: Carol Coffey
To: animaladvocates@telus.net
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 10:10 AM
Subject: Mount Currie reserves animal control and abuse

I am the shelter director at Whistler Animals Galore (WAG). We are a small non-profit charitable organization that operates the animal shelter in Whistler. We are the closest shelter to the First Nations community of Mount Currie. Approximately one third of the animals that come into our shelter originate from the Mount Currie reserves.
We are constantly in receipt of phone calls about stories of animal abuse on the reserve. Like many other reserves in BC and Canada, there is a very serious animal control problem. In other words, no animals are spayed or neutered and they all roam as they please, giving way to so many unwanted litters that people shoot the puppies, drown them, or club them to death.
To make matters worse, the Band Council has adopted a terrible animal control technique, and not for the first time. They have hired someone to shoot dogs that are not wearing ID tags. They pay $20 per dog. The bodies are being dumped at the dump. The residents have found out that there is money to be made and so they are now actively seeking out dogs and shooting them, even dogs wearing ID tags. This policy only encourages a dispect for animals and inhumane treatment of them.
I can try to find out as much detail about specific cases as possible from out contacts there, however, those individuals who care about the animals and what is happening cannot give their names for fear of retaliation.
We have spoken with the BC SPCA and learned that there is very little they can do. Some SPCA representatives have told us that they cannot go onto the reserve. Others have told us that someone from the reserve must call in a complaint.
I have spoken with the Mount Currie liason from Indian and Northern Affairs. He also claims that there is very little that can be done as the community is self-governing.
One solution that we are looking into is a spay/neuter day. Unfortunately, we do not have the funds to conduct a spay/neuter clinic. We could probably find volunteers to help but we are stretched just to meet our own vet bills and operating costs (as I am sure you understand!).
I believe that the Band Council must be held accountable for the abuse and barbaric animal control policy they have adopted. I am frustrated as the band council does not return our phone calls.
The problem seems to be more of a dog problem than a cat problem. We receive far fewer calls regarding cats than dogs.

Carol Coffey
Shelter Director
Whistler Animals Galore Society (WAG)