In the Spring of 2006, the Mayor and Council of Burnaby were considering a bylaw to prevent the tethering of dogs. The intent was wholly humane and Burnaby council is to be commended for their compassion.

But years of experience had shown AAS over and over, that if owners are not allowed to tether their dog, they will do worse to it. We twice made presentations to Burnaby council, warning them that their well-meaning bylaw could result in worse suffering and asking for a complete ban on yard dogs. We presented a draft of a bylaw that we think is workable and most humane. Our efforts were blocked by the Burnaby SPCA.

We warned the Mayor and Council of Burnaby what could happen - that if owners were not permitted to keep dogs on ropes, they would keep them in worse places: pens, boarded under and on porches... and in garages. That is exactly what happened to Coco. The Burnaby SPCA had many complaints about Coco when she was tethered to her owner's porch. After the owners were told by the SPCA that it did not approve of this, the owners put Coco into their garage - on a short tether! (Her owners told AAS that the SPCA had told them it would okay to keep Coco in the garage as long as she wasn't tethered, and in fact, two Burnaby SPCA Constables told the same to AAS.) At the same time that the Burnaby SPCA was taking complaints that Coco was now being kept in a garage on a tether (the Burnaby SPCA denied that Coco was on a tether in the garage even though many people saw it including AAS), it was telling the City of Burnaby that there was no proof of AAS's caution to Council that people will put their dog into a garage or a pen if they are no longer allowed to tether it and that that is even more cruel than tethering.

Coco - the dog the Burnaby SPCA denied was tethered in a garage. The rope and hook has been circled