Cassie’s Happy Ending

SPCA: "Nothing we can do - there's no law being broken"

For two years, Cassie endured this life in East Vancouver. As a puppy, she had cried when she was put on a chain and left outside, alone and lonely. No one ever saw her taken in the house or taken for a walk. She'd been taken from her mother and siblings, a warm, comforting family circle, and suddenly she was cold and alone. She cried out of the incomprehensible loneliness of being put on a chain, and just left. For crying, she had her muzzle wired shut. The scars from the infection caused by the wire, encircle her nose and always will, as a testament to the cruelty of some humans.

When AAS was phoned about Cassie, she had had her second litter of pups and the caller had given up asking the SPCA to help her. The caller was always given the standard SPCA answer, which AAS has heard every employee repeat, from the lowest, right up to the CEO of the BC SPCA: "We can only enforce the law and there's no law being broken". The public doesn't realize that the provincial Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act leaves the definition of neglect and abuse up to the SPCA, so when the SPCA says there's no law against this, that's because they chose to interpret the Act as not being able to help dogs like Cassie.

And the City of Vancouver has always refused to adopt AAS's Humane Treatment of Dogs bylaws.

As you can see, Cassie is now happy at last. She lives on an island, and goes for great hikes and swims every day with her friend Daisy, and she's a welcomed, loved member of her family circle. Every dog has a right to what Cassie has now.


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