From the Brindleweb messageboard:

Quote:
They stole people's dogs, and lied to do so. That makes them thieves and liars and IMO, the public perception is correct.

IMO, attempting to look at this issue as black-and-white is impossible. Is taking a dog without permission considered theft on a legal level? Yes. But here's a quote to think about:

"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning, they want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters..Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
-- Frederick Douglass [/]

To me, the question is: why do people feel the need to take the law into their own hands to save dogs in these situations? Because many times, those who have the legal power to do so, are not saving these dogs. Concerned citizens do not go around looking for illegal acts to engage in. They go to the danger and effort of taking matters into their own hands because they feel forced to do so -- the evolution of the human race clearly shows that this is many times what needs to happen to make positive societal change occur, for paradigms to shift.

Do I wish that people did not have to be vigilantes? Absolutely. Do I wish that all animals that needed help were attended to legally, by those who hold the power (in this province, the SPCA)? Yes, I do. Would I illegally assist a dog frozen to the ground by its own urine, if legal avenues had failed? Without a doubt.