I just read about this lawsuit when a friend sent me the WatchDog posts about it. I then read the lawsuit pages that are on the AAS site, reading with interest that the SPCA dropped a large section of its original claim, the section on allegations of SPCA Incompetence. As a person who considered a career in the law, I would be interested to know why the SPCA dropped such a large section. It is not unreasonable to wonder if SPCA incompetence would be too easy to prove. Then too, I noticed that the SPCA dropped two of the defendants. All of this chopping and changing costs money. It costs the SPCA money and it cost the defendants money to have defended the dropped section and the dropped defendants, then it cost AAS money to discuss whether to permit the SPCA to chop and change that way. Perhaps it was decided to save the cost of fighting the SPCA's money-draining tactics for a trial. That would be a smart thing to do as I estimate it will cost the defendants $150,000 to $200,000 to vigorously defend themselves at trial.

I read the AAS section called Meet the Defendants and was utterly disgusted at the SPCA. Gail Moerkerken of Big Heart Rescue Society is especially to be commended for her society's hard work on behalf of animals on BC reserves. I urge readers to put Gail's last name into the this site's search function to read literally hundreds of posts by her and about her work. I urge readers to go to Big Heart Rescue's site at http://www.bigheartrescue.com/ and then I defy you not to wonder who at the SPCA made the decision to sue her (and all the rest of the defendants whose names I have also searched only to discover that they are all intelligent, decent, compassionate persons).

This has been a shocking eye-opener for me and for my family and friends. At the next soonest opportunity I will be going to the BC Supreme Court registry to get a copy of the SPCA's statements of claim. This case should go down in history and I want to be there.

I urge all readers of the WatchDog to go to http://www.animaladvocates.com/lawsuit/ and read the number of legal tricks the SPCA has paid for and forced the defendants to pay for. As I say, it is a real eye-opener.

My sincerest congratulations to all the defendants for withstanding all this terrible bullying.