To: gordon.campbell.mla@leg.bc.ca; wally.oppal.mla@leg.bc.ca;
john.les.mla@leg.bc.ca; pat.bell.mla@leg.bc.ca; board@spca.bc.ca;
cdaniell@spca.bc.ca
Subject: I am concerned about the possible abuse of power by the BC SPCA
and its use of legal SLAPP suits

To Whom It May Concern
It has happened again. Instead of going after the puppy and kitten mills or
following up on public complaints about, for example, chained dogs, the SPCA
is busy harassing another animal rescue group and spending donated money on
lawsuits.

Petra Smith has rescued 80 unwanted horses in addition to goats, sheep and
one pig and nursed them all back to health on her 50-acre farm at 152nd
Street and 44th Avenue.

Shawn Eccles, chief animal protection officer with the BC SPCA, threatened
Smith with criminal charges if she didn't send her animals to the vet while
Colin Dolphin, a Langley veterinarian who donates his services to Smith,
said the animals were in fairly good condition.

This sounds very much like Eileen Drever's, BC SPCA Senior Animal Protection
Officer, raid on the Forgotten Felines shelter three years ago.

Ms Drever said several times that the cats would be better off dead. She
gave Ms March an official 'Order' which instructed that the two cats out of
150 in the shelter had to be seen by a vet, one of which was a cat that was
sick when received from the SPCA and was being treated. The other was given
a clean bill of health by March's vet. Dr Dhillon of the Oak Animal Hospital
came to Forgotten Felines right afterwards and said the shelter was
fantastic and that the cats all looked well looked after. He expressed the
opinion that Drever should be investigated for saying that Penny's cats
should be dead.

While the SPCA is busy spending donated funds raiding its perceived
competition (i.e. other animal welfare organizations), it's also paying
lawyers to try to find a way to silence their criticism by another animal
welfare group - Animal Advocates through a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public
Participation (SLAPP) suit.

Surely Animal Advocates is allowed to speak out, since freedom of speech is
a right that all Canadians share. The justification of the lawsuit was
because the SPCA was supposedly losing donations. My reason for no longer
donating and no longer volunteering with the SPCA has nothing to do with
AAS. I became disillusioned with the SPCA and didn't want my hard earned
money going to harassment suits and raids on other animal welfare groups,
while animals in genuine distress get ignored because the SPCA is too busy.

SLAPP suits accomplish little more than suppress public criticism and drain
an organization's resources over the long term. Many US states have clamped
down on such lawsuits and thrown them out of court. That the BC SPCA) would
raid other shelters and initiate SLAPP suits against their critics is
unbelievable. Surely something can be done to stop this.

Sincerely,

Janice Kenefick
Surrey, BC