If you have not read the BC SPCA's Animal Care Guidelines. Animal lovers are waiting for the SPCA to use the guidelines to "encourage animal owners to treat their animals humanely.

The PCA act does not have a definition of neglect; it leaves the definition of neglect up to the BC SPCA.

Guidelines are not law, but the SPCA can (and said it would) use the guidelines as a guide to its definition of neglect to be used by Crown prosecutors.

We would be interested in hearing of any recent cases of neglect where the SPCA has used its guidelines to seize an animal and to prosecute an owner. It is possible that lack of socialization was used recently in the seizure of 56 dogs from Gaston Lapointe near Kelowna, but unfortunately, the SPCA just killed 18 of the dogs because they were too desocialized by their chaining. If the SPCA had applied it's guidelines years ago when Mr Lapointe neglect of his dogs was first brought to its attention, these dogs would not have needed to be killed.