I am an animal lover and have seen the SPCA in action. The SPCA animal hospital in Vancouver has always been extremely kind to me and I know that there are good people who work at the SPCA. However, on one occassion while volunteering at a lower mainland SPCA shelter, I saw a staff member drag a frightened dog into his kennel. I also had an incident not long ago where I complained about a dog living next door to me, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with extremely minimal contact with his owners. When I spoke to the investigating officer, I was told, 'this dog is well cared for.' When I said I couldn't believe that statement given the dog is only fed and given water, but is not allowed inside and not given daily walks and that myself and other neighbours have to listen to the constant crying of this poor dog, the SPCA officer actually began to ARGUE with me over the fact he believed this dog was well taken care of. This all did not happen 'years ago'.
There is always, always going to be animal abuse and abandonment given our society. What is the SPCA doing about this other than just pleading with the public? Are they pushing for breeding by-laws for dogs? Do they give out educational material when someone adopts a cat or dog in English, as well as other languages? Do they make sure dogs go to suitable homes that do not tie, chain or otherwise isolate a dog? Are they pushing to have more laws in place to make sure animal abuse does not happen? Do they make sure that ALL animals who leave their premises are spayed and neutered before going into a potential home?
In my mind, the SPCA needs to do a lot more for the animals of British Columbia.
Lori Cumiskey