Lizzy was less than a year old, still a pup, when she had a litter of huge puppies in a back yard up North. Winter came and there was still one pup left with Lizzy... frozen ground, frozen water, no shelter, no blanket. A kind person rescued the puppy in the middle of the night, after the SPCA would not investigate, but Lizzy was so frightened, she couldn't be caught.

Shortly after, Lizzy was surrendered by her owner to the SPCA, where she was immediately put up for sale, still intact, still able to breed more puppies. And that is how she was sold by the SPCA, a little breeder, just a year old, and set to keep being bred til dead.

The SPCA also sold a certificate to Lizzie's purchaser for $60.00 that can be redeemed at a vet when she is spayed, if she is spayed. Compliance with redeeming these certificates is spotty. We have been told it is anywhere from 35% to 70%. The SPCA pockets the money - if the certificate is not redeemed. In all, the SPCA made $150.00 off Lizzy. Easy money...dog in, dog out, $150.00 in the bank.

Lizzie got lucky. It was AAS that purchased her after hearing her story. We do this whenever we can. We waited several months to see if this SPCA showed any interest in Lizzy aside from collecting $150. None of course. Lizzy could already be pregnant again. The cycle of pregnancy, surrender, sales, is a business, not animal welfare.

Here is what Lizzy's purchaser reports: "The SPCA has not phoned for a home check or to see if she has been spayed. The certificate was for $60. Out of all the animals I have adopted from the SPCA over the years, I have only been called about one of my cats to see if he had been neutered. That was a year after I adopted him and I wasn't home at the time so they just left a message on my answering machine. They did not call me back so they still don't know if he is or isn't neutered!!"

This SPCA branch assured AAS that there are follow-up calls made on all adoptions. A lie of course. And it puts into question the validity of every statement made by every SPCA branch, by Head Office, and by the Board of Directors. Every lie the SPCA tells invalidates everything it says.

As soon as Lizzy was flown down to us, we had her spayed, vaccinated, tattooed, and microchipped - she is our responsibility forever, and if she had needed surgery or disease treatment, she would have got that too. Once AAS accepts an animal into its care, it gets the same care we would give one of our own pets. To do less is not animal welfare, it is the used-pet business.

There is no credible excuse for no follow-ups. The SPCA can't cry too poor for this one - it could be done by volunteers. Head Office could instruct every branch's volunteer Community Advisory Committee to set up a home check and sterilizing program. That the SPCA has not done this is not just a disgrace - it is very instructive.

What could be the purpose of avoiding doing something so basic to animal welfare, which costs nothing? Well, there is that $60.00 that the SPCA got to keep because (as far as they knew) Lizzy remained a breeder. And it is one less program to run, when SPCA staff are busy keeping track of stray dog stats for their dog control/disposal contracts with municipalities.

Why no home checks made of adoptors before handing over a life whose only chance is that this new purchaser won't abuse and neglect it?

We believe it is because home checks so often reveal the unsuitabity of that person to own an animal, and turning down a potential purchaser would clog up the SPCA's facilities and a sale would be lost.

So though the SPCA claims to do all the things that real animal welfarists do - home checks and screening and follow-up calls - we know it almost never does. Those things are counter to the business of animal sales and disposal.

Business comes first at the SPCA. Welfare later...if at all.