Brooke Larsen
Now Contributor

A Surrey farmer's big heart is getting her into big trouble with the SPCA.

Last week SPCA inspectors ordered Petra Smith to have her goats, sheep and one pig seen by a vet, but Smith says she can't afford the vet bills.

"I take these animals in out of the goodness of my heart. I can't pay a hundred dollar vet bill just because one goat has a snotty nose," Smith said.

She boards horses at her 50-acre farm at 152nd Street and 44th Avenue, but said the business grosses only $100,000 per year.

Smith said she's also taken in 80 unwanted, sick horses in the last two years and has recently started buying sick goats and nursing them back to health.

"I'm helping these animals, but I can't afford to if I have to take them to the vet all the time," said Smith, who also distributes the Now.

"They wanted the vet to see a pig that had diarrhea for one day. These animals aren't sick. It's ridiculous."

Shawn Eccles, chief animal protection officer with the BC SPCA, said Smith could face criminal charges if she doesn't follow the orders.

"What Miss Smith fails to understand is that once those animals are in her care, it's up to her to make sure they get the care they need."

Eccles said it doesn't matter whether Smith has enough of money to cover the vet bills or not.

"I know she has a big heart, but why does she keep taking these animals in if she can't afford to care for them?" he asked, adding that several of the animals on Smith's farm were "in distress."

But Colin Dolphin, a Langley veterinarian who often donates his services to Smith, said the animals were in fairly good condition.

"I've examined those goats myself. They're fine, except that one had a respiratory problem, which is fairly common, and one had an old fracture," he said, adding that he hadn't examined the pig.

"They aren't what I would call distressed."

Dolphin said Smith sometimes takes in animals that are beyond saving, and that he has had to euthanize animals at the farm on more than one occasion.

"I've told her when an animal is just too far gone. She takes them in because she has a soft spot for animals, and it's getting her into trouble."

posted on 07/13/2005