Another case of SPCA anxious to kill a gentle companion dog. This story needs to hit the headlines along with that of Cheech.
On or about June 15, 2004, Tasha, a five year old female Chocolate Lab was taken to the Parksville/Qualicum SPCA by a woman who had been temporarily caring for her, but could no longer keep her.
Thewoman told the SPCA that Tasha had killed a cat when she was a 5 month old puppy, but had never repeated the offence. The worker responded that Tasha would be put to sleep by 9 am the very next morning, as she would not be safe out in society.
The friend admitted that she was only the keeper of Tasha and refused to complete the application for surrender, and gave the worker the name and address of her legal owner.
The SPCA worker responded that Tasha could notleave the premises because she had killed a domestic animal and was therefore a danger to society. The friend begged the worker to telephone the owner with this news, which was done.
The friend left without Tasha, and without signing any surrender forms. Later that day, the SPCA confirmed to two separate members of the local rescue community that Tasha would, indeed, be put to sleep the next morning.
Upon offering to take Tasha to safety, the rescuers were told again that Tasha was a danger to society and only her original owner could remove her from their premises. Tasha spent the night in the SPCA kennels and was rescued by her frantic owner at 8:45am the following morning.
At no time was a surrender form completed and/or signed by either the owner or the fostering friend. The decision to euthanize Tasha was made within 20 minutes of her arrival at the shelter, without benefit of any form of assessment by SPCA personnel.
The SPCA says that it kills no dogs that it has not assessed for temperament, but there was no assessment ever done on Tasha. The intake worker made an instantanious decision that Tasha must die. As Tasha was never surrendered by her legal owner, the SPCA had no legal right to kill her.
Diane Esther,
Parksville, BC