All of those who do dog rescue know how difficult, expensive, and time-consuming it is to rehabilitate neglected dogs, and how easy it is to sell pups. We all know how difficult it is not to betray difficult dogs, and we all know what a strain on resources it is to be crowded with dogs that are not ready to be rehomed until they have had whatever time, training, and money it will take to make them adoptable.

The Kelowna SPCA found itself, once again, in this dilemma that is common to all of us. Only last Christmas the Kelowna SPCA destroyed a litter of pups that had been found in a dumpster because the pups may have had parvo virus. (AAS has never been able to determine if tests for parvo were ever done and what the test results were, but AAS has saved many pups with parvo, and yes, it's expensive and takes real dedication, but they need not die. We have found it consistently difficult to get open, transparent and straightforward information from the BC SPCA.)

The faults that resulted in these dogs' deaths lie not with the dogs, who are entirely innocent, but who are made to pay the price of other's faults, and not entirely with Gaston Lapointe (who was allowed to do this for many years), but at least in part with the BC SPCA which has been empowered to prevent cruelty and could have seized dogs from Lapointe long ago.

Much of the fault lies with the BC SPCA not asking for legislation to control puppymills and backyard breeders; with decades of BC SPCA pound contracts; and with an "open surrender policy" that means that SPCAs cannot tell John and Jane Doe that it will not "get rid of" their pet for them, because it is full and will not kill any animals to make room for the Doe's unwanted pet.

We can only suggest that if SPCAs stopped being "open surrender facilities" it might have the money, space, and other resources to rehabilitate the dogs it "rescues". (See why never saying "No - we're full" to an animal-dumper causes overcrowding and enables irresponsible pet-dumping, http://www.animaladvocates.com/spca-shelter-shuffle.htm>)

The BC SPCA benefits hugely from its relationship with the media when it makes a seizure, as the Kelowna SPCA did when it took a television crew with it to seize pups from Mr Jack Lockhard, a man who had been selling pups from the back of his pickup truck for several years, (see this message, "When will the SPCA enforce PCA Act without the media?"

http://www.animaladvocates.com/cgi/newsroom.pl/read/1647>)

But the benefits of seizures must consistently extend to the seized animals before the SPCA can say it has "rescued" them.

It simply isn't possible for AAS to trust the BC SPCA until it does this.