Animal
Advocates of B.C.
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SPCA INVITES
BREEDERS AND PUPPYMILL OUTLETS TO ITS VERNON PETARAMA |
Yesterday, October 6, 2002, was Vernon
SPCA's 3rd annual "Petarama". Billed as a family fun day, I knew it would be
mostly PR and feelgood fluff, but I had to go in the hopes that I would find something
there that had anything to do with the prevention of cruelty to animals. What I found though, was what I had expected. I scanned the SPCA's display table for any scrap of educational info, anything about spaying and neutering, or responsible pet care, or even pictures of animals available for adoption. All I saw on the table was merchandise and a price list for all the things for sale. Oh yes, and the lunch menu and prices- I made a point of asking, and no, there were no veggie dogs available. No cruelty free alternative to a hot dog was offered. I did, however, spy one piece of educational material- a piece of poster board with some pictures of animals on it, and the heading "Help us help them...animal cruelty is a crime". Alas though, I couldn't read any of the small print or see what the pictures were of because this board was shoved into a plastic bin , the bottom half obscured by bags and supplies, and stuck behind the staff who were working the table so you barely saw it at all, except when someone moved. I never saw it move from there. |
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Right next to the SPCA table, only 2 feet away,
was the table for "Scales N Things" reptile zoo and sanctuary". There you
could see a four foot python stuffed into a tupperware container (to keep it warm, the
reptile person said). Occasionally she would open the container so various onlookers could
touch the snake. There was also a monitor lizard in the top half of a two-tiered display
container, and something unidentifiable on the bottom (I could barely see through the
unclear "windows"). |
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Well I was horrified that the SPCA obviously
thought it was fine to stuff a four foot snake into a roughly 8"x12"x5"
tupperware container and call it education, but guess what else? That snake lady also had
her litter of Jack Russell Terrier puppies with her! So I guess the SPCA endorses
keeping exotics in captivity and breeding dogs. Incidentally, someone had a pup from the
same mother there and all the dogs were visiting- this pup was 11 months old, and the
current litter looked to be about 3-4 months old- same mother, therefore this poor dog
must have been bred on consecutive heats. AND, the 11 month old son still was not
neutered. |
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There were many unneutered purebred dogs present that day, and the SPCA chose to promote them by holding a mini dog show. Instead of promoting spaying and neutering they promoted breeding and showing, even if this was not their intention. All dogs are equal in the eyes of those who truly care about animals, so to be fair, and to promote saving the life of a shelter dog instead of buying from a breeder, they should have at least held a mini fun show that included shelter dogs available for adoption, either instead of or in conjunction with the purebred show. |
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But on to some of the other displays that the
SPCA chose to invite- two pet shops, both of which regularly sell puppies and kittens, one
of which I happen to know for a fact has sold puppies from an atrocious puppy mill for at
least 12 years now. But the SPCA has been partners in crime with them before- they held a
fundraiser right in front of this pet shop a few months ago. At that time I informed the
volunteers of what I knew about this pet shop, but I guess the SPCA really doesn't care,
as they invited them back to Petarama. More money for everyone right? More PR for them
both, more sales, more donations...and more suffering dogs in puppy mills. |
Oh the pony rides were done in a humane enough
fashion I guess, and the wagon rides, and the petting farms...but no one can ask the
animals whether they'd have preferred just not to be there... But the humane presentation
of a pony ride or petting farm is no excuse for their existence, and the SPCA SHOULD KNOW
THAT. What goes on behind the scenes of these operations is often anything but humane.
Chickadee Ridge was there with its miniature horses- they have over 200 of them back at
the ranch. They also have two Japanese snow monkeys and 2 coatamundi that live in dark
chain link cells back at the ranch. I am not the only person who has complained to the
SPCA about the misery these animals endure as exhibits at Chickadee Ridge. But I don't
believe the SPCA when they told me a while back that they wished there was something they
could do to help these poor caged souls- if the SPCA cared even one tiny bit, they
certainly would not have helped promote the operation that exploits them by inviting them
to their family fun day. So in a nutshell, Petarama was a whole pile of PR, and a huge exercise in SPCA hypocrisy. The SPCA should have taken the opportunity to educate the public about animal cruelty and to promote spay neuter awareness- instead, they invited and thus promoted a bunch of people and businesses who profit from breeding and exploiting animals. So when are they going to "move forward in a new direction"? |
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AAS to really help animals? |