Chained dogs and loose yard dogs are the most visible of the dogs that are being cruelly isolated; there are many that are being kept in garages, in pens, and even in garden sheds, some of them kept in cages in the garages and sheds so that they don’t damage anything. The question must be asked: Why didn’t the SPCA tell you about this – especially after you asked for evidence? For fifty years the SPCA has heard every complaint; Animal Advocates only hears a few.

The report says:

“The proposed tethering bylaw is expected to have a positive impact with respect to animal welfare. Many healthy, well socialized dogs are kept in back yards, runs and other enclosures for periods of time. Where there are concerns with conditions in these situations, the Animal Control Bylaw provides for standards of care for animals that are applicable to dogs kept outdoors. These provisions address needs relating to shelter, sanitation, health and exercise for dogs and are administered by the SPCA. The SPCA also enforces the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act which provides authority for relieving distress in animals. In recognizing there are many healthy dogs that are at times kept in some form of enclosure (backyard, run, pen) and with the previously noted regulations currently in place to address inhumane situations, a ban on ‘yard dogs’ is not recommended at this time.”

Animal Advocates has seen many dogs that live their whole lives in pens, not just for “periods of time”; some being allowed out for once brief period a day, some not ever being allowed out. “Periods of time” is not the problem; the problem with this report is that though it prevents 24 hour tethering, it still permits dogs to be penned their whole lives – in conditions that would not be tolerated if it were any other species of animal. It is permitted to treat dogs worse than livestock. We have reports of complaints to the SPCA of dogs are forced to lie on frozen concrete or mud with no shelter and the only improvement the SPCA is able to make is for the dog to be given some kind of shelter, usually a cold dog house or maybe a tarp over one end of the pen. I don’t think it is your intention for this cruelty to be permitted, but perhaps you have not been told of it.

It is disappointing that staff did not think it worthwhile to contact us and that the SPCA approves of keeping dogs in garages, but for Cookie’s sake and for the sake of all the dogs in Burnaby (and by extension all isolated dogs in the Lower Mainland and other parts of BC where your bylaw will be imitated), who are living in dark, dirty, lonely isolation, I am heartened that this council wants to see farther than what you have been allowed to see. We want a ban on tethering as much as you do, now so more than ever, as a chained dog in Vancouver hanged itself on its tether last week. But if you adopt a ban only on tethering, then Cookie may be put in a cage in the garage and there will be nothing to stop her owners from doing that. The SPCA has said that there is nothing wrong with it, so clearly the SPCA is not going to use the PCA Act to prevent this cruelty and if you do not have bylaw against this, then Cookie has no hope at all. It could be many years before Burnaby will look at this issue again, and Cookie’s suffering – and the suffering of many other penned and garaged dogs in Burnaby will go on.

Judy Stone, President
Animal Advocates Society of BC

These two dogs were put in a cage in this shed after complaints to the SPCA that they were tethered