As I write this letter, there is a big, grouchy, arthritic German Shepherd laying on a big pillow in my living room, chewing on a bone and enjoying being warm on a cool autumn afternoon. Why is she grouchy and arthritic? Because up until one year ago, she had spent over a decade on a small concrete porch -- eating, defecating, and sleeping in a 10 foot square space, surrounded by garbage and with rats running by her at night. She was so filthy that we could often smell her from our yard, down the street.

The first time we took her out of the yard (her owners eventually allowed us to walk her, although they were not willing to give her up), she could barely make it around the block, due to her incredibly painful joints, atrophied muscles, and the fact that she was over 30 pounds overweight from lack of exercise. She had a huge growth on her eye that was starting to bleed, and subsequent vet visits showed extreme spinal arthritis, made worse by the years of cold, rainy winters spent laying on the concrete.

For three years we called the SPCA for help. On some of those occasions, a humane office showed up, which never improved her plight. At one point the humane officer derided us for even making the call to the SPCA, saying that there was nothing wrong with the dog or her level of care, despite the lack of medical attention, exercise, cleanliness, etc. Other neighbours told us that they had thought about calling the SPCA, but had decided against it, as past experiences with the organization had given them the impression that, "the SPCA never does anything for the dog anyways, so why bother calling".

The story of her escape to freedom is a long one, and many kind, pro-active people assisted her in coming home at last to us. But suffice it to say that last Halloween was the last night she spent out in the dark and the rain and the cold, being terrorized by the fireworks, with no one to comfort her.

This would have been such a better story if I could say that a call to the SPCA resulted in change for this dog. But similar to Tammy Grimes, we too were put in a situation of being forced to act, because the organization here in BC that is supposed to prevent cruelty, did not do so, and this dog's health was going downhill so fast, that it was obvious she would not last much longer in the environment she was being forced to live in.

Our acting on behalf of this dog has saved her, but it will not save the next dog that her old owners will probably get in the future. It is within the power of the SPCA to work to change this cycle of neglect, if only they would choose to become pro-active to the plight of yard dogs.