The PCA Act encourages (one could argue, demands) that the SPCA gives an owner time to get veterinary care of their animal before it seizes the animal and has charges laid, unless the animal is in "critical distress" (death cannot be prevented: the Act allows the SPCA to seize that animal and euthanize it immediately). In the last two years, the SPCA has seized thousands of animals without giving the owner an opportunity to "promptly take steps that will relieve its distress"[PCA Act: 3.11.(a)]. Some of the animals it has seized are actually in good health. And some of those healthy animals have actually sickened and died in the SPCA's "care". (Note: The SPCA has promoted and awarded some of the people who have done this to animals.) We don't know how sick Ms Smith's animals are. So sick that the SPCA must legally intervene, or not any sicker than many animals are that recover without medical intervention all the time? But given the fact that the SPCA has displayed appalling ignorance of animal health and husbandry for so many years, we are inclined to trust the opinion of the vet, Dr Colin Dolphin.