I was volunteering at our Langley SPCA. A pair of pit bulls came in, mother & daughter, relinquished by their owner . Both had obviously had puppies. Both were thin to the point of emaciation. The daughter, Scarlet, is apparently 18 months old. A cowering, shaking, terrified dog. I walked her and inquired about fostering her - I had fostered a dog before. I offered to foster both her and mom, if need be. After a whole bunch of red tape, assessing the dog, whatever, a few days later I was told that Scarlet had been assessed and could go to a foster home. It had been decided to separate mom & daughter because mom was bullying Scarlet. I picked up Scarlet and was informed that there had been an "incident". The story was vague, she and mom were in a dog fight with another dog and the other dog had been taken to the vet as a result. Scarlet had several cuts on her face.

At home, Scarlet was a wonderful dog. She was very good with my two children. No threat there at all. She was very timid and scared. We started the very long process of gaining this dog's trust. On walks, she learnt very quickly not to pull. All I had to do is stop and say "whoa, whoa". By the end of the first walk she was walking without pulling (now is that smart and willing to please or what?) On our walks, we encountered other dogs, no aggressive behaviour from Scarlet at all, not even when two small off leash dogs came running up to her, yapping their heads off.

Less than 24 hours of having her home I was called by the SPCA telling me I had to bring Scarlet back to be re-assessed because of the "incident".The details told to me were that Scarlet and mom were in an outside play area by themselves and an old, extremely timid dog was put in the play area with them. Mom & Scarlet attacked the dog. By all accounts,the attack was extremely brutal and unprovoked.

I did everything I could to keep her. I cited the accounts of her interactions with my children and her reaction to the other dogs. I was told, "That dog could turn around and rip open your child's face. Pit bulls are unpredictable" I acknowledged that there was an issue, she was dog aggressive, could she not go to socialization classes? Could the assessors not come to my house? I told them that I had no fear of this dog hurting my children - and believe me, if I thought there was a chance of that, the dog would have been gone. I offered to sign a waiver absolving the SPCA of any responsibility. Nothing would sway them. I feared what this would do to Scarlet, betrayed once again, the inevitable lesson learned - don't trust humans. Bottom line, it was liability and ego that ruled. I returned Scarlet to the SPCA.

I really feel there were other options. I am not trivialising the issue at hand. I know her aggressiveness must be looked at and evaluated. I think people who are very experienced with pit bulls should be the ones evaluating her.

I spent the next few days on the computer searching for rescues, responsible pit bull breeders, someone who could give Scarlet a full, comprehensive evaluation. Finally I found someone who would help rescue Scarlet. I was advised to phone the SPCA and tell them we were trying to rescue her. The SPCA told me she had been destroyed.

I no longer volunteer at the the SPCA. I am taking the first steps of advocating for a city run animal shelter in Langley.