The agony of death in gas boxes has been long known, very possibly since the boxes were first manufactured for the cheap and efficient disposal of millions of unwanted pets by the pet disposal industry. This industry not only included the obvious players - municipal pounds - but many so-called Humane Societies and SPCAs, who were not only acting as contracted pounds for many municipalities, but were also secretly disposing of millions of unwanted pets a year without telling their donors. In fact, the misuse of the gas box, as described in this petition and in other accounts where, contrary to the manufacturer's standards, multiple cats are stuffed into the box together, is an offence under the BC PCA Act, because the cruelty has been caused or permitted; and under the Criminal Code of Canada because the cruelty has been wilfully caused. It was clear from many accounts AAS received over many years from SPCA volunteers and staff, that the suffering we were told of at SPCAs was caused knowingly and deliberately. The two accounts by SPCA employees, posted above, confirm this.

In BC, anyone causing or permitting cruelty when using a gas box can be prosecuted by the BC SPCA. But that would reveal to the public that the BC SPCA, with 40 plus branches at one time, almost all of them with gas boxes, was the largest user of gas boxes in BC for decades.

Anyone causing or permitting cruelty by the use of the electrothanator in BC could also have been prosecuted by the SPCA, if the user knows that the machines caused suffering, but continued to use them. In BC, the SPCA used uncalibrated electrothanators for many years, knowing that dogs had to be jolted more than once, and that their hair burned and their "ears smoked".

Two of the SPCA claims in its lawsuit against me are that some of my words imputed "cruelty" and "criminal wrongdoing" against the SPCA. Gas boxes and electrothanators may be proof of both. Only a public trial will decide.

A public trial is no more than what the future of animal welfare in BC demands. The SPCA stopped using gas boxes and electrothanators when public knowledge became widespread in spite of evidence and proof of the cruelty that was given to the SPCA by some SPCA Directors and employees. In fact, I do not know of a single animal welfare policy that was made less unethical by the SPCA without public knowledge seeming to drive it.