In the fall of 2003 when I was a Director and President of the BC SPCA and my wife was a daily volunteer at the Victoria Branch of the BCSPCA, the branch experienced an outbreak of ringworm that the staff had difficulty in controlling. I had a discussion with the Manager of Animal Health about the Society’s policies with respect to controlling and rehabilitating animals from ringworm in the Society’s shelters. I was informed that the Society had no policies to treat animals with ringworm , that the “policy “ was to kill infected animals and that Victoria was a “special case”. I presume Victoria was special because the Society’s President was from Victoria and the President’s wife was an active "No Kill" volunteer in the shelter.

Maybe the senior management team was afraid to cross the President. It is clear from Mr. Busch’s reply that the Society’s policy with respect to ringworm is still to kill some infected animals.

This policy or shall I say lack of policy does not win the SPCA any friends or influence many people. It in fact makes one wonder why the SPCA has a Manager of Animal Health.

Rick Sargent

Past BC SPCA President, past member, past supporter.