Thumbs down:
The BC SPCA in Nanaimo is running its "third annual Home For the Holidays campaign where it hopes to find loving homes for all the orphaned animals at its shelter".

Point number one:
None of the animals in question are orphaned. The are stray, abandoned or simply surrendered by owners who no longer want them. Orphaned is not the correct term at all but it does elicit sympathy.

Point number two:
This program was initiated in the United States where thousand of animals are gassed in chambers everyday because of a huge overpopulation problem that remains unchecked due to the little interest of anyone to control puppymillers and large corporations who thrive selling pets to anyone and everyone to make a profit. BC does not have this same problem, yet.

Point number three:
Home for the Holidays says a home for the Christmas Holidays and implies that pets make a good present. This again is not animal welfare. Selling animals to people to make the people feel good or to be popular with their childen is hardly in the best interest of the animal in question. I have been involved in animal welfare for many years now and have seen time and again many people surrender their animals at Christmas because they do not want to pay someone to care for them when they go away and the other prime time for surrender is when the school children get out of school for the summer. These same people often want to adopt a new kitten for their children at the start of the new year. Has the Nanaimo branch of the BC SPCA actually taken the time over the last two years to see how many of the animals adopted in their previous "Home for the Holidays" campaigns are still in their homes in Nanaimo? I highly doubt if these statistics can be provided.

Point number four:
The BC SPCA is an animal welfare organization who are supposed to educate people about the fact owning a pet is for life and the need to move product quickly is tied totally to the BC SPCA having an open surrender policy and animal control contracts. Neither of these belong in an animal welfare organization and until the BC SPCA actually begins to practise honest animal welfare there will be fact based criticism which the general public are becoming more and more aware of.

The Nanaimo SPCA is not behaving like an animal welfare organization here and are their supporters going along with this because of the threat of having animals die if they are not adopted quickly? Is the pound mentality being used here to convince supporters that this is the only solution? If so that is despicable and the head office of the BC SPCA should be intervening to stop this but I expect they truly do not care as long as the money from adoptions is flowing through.

To be successful and to maintain their grasp on the general market I believe the BC SPCA has to look at itself and promote those parts of animal welfare they actually are accomplishing and there are positive changes. Unfortunately those positive changes are being overshadowed with flowery gimmicky product moving announcements. You may have noticed I have changed the word animals to product.

It is shameful but that is the word used by the BC SPCA Board of Directors themselves and until that CHANGES the BC SPCA will not be practicing true Animal Welfare.