It was announced Nov. 22 2002 that 3 more of the husky mixes siezed from Gaston Lapointe may be killed by the Kelowna SPCA because of aggression.
The SPCA seized 53 dogs in July and killed 18 in November. Now maybe 3 more will die.
The SPCA says "animal behaviourists" are assessing the dogs.
Victimizing and exploiting dogs is not animal welfare. The SPCA has done both. They have used the story of their "rescue" of these dogs to garner donations. They have victimized these dogs by holding them in their "shelter" (a cage is a cage, I don't care how many geraniums border it)for nearly 5 months, isolated and terrified, and then subjected them to a psychological test. And when they fail, they are executed.
I understand that when a court case is pending, as was the case with Lapointe, that those dogs are not allowed to leave SPCA property. A fair solution would be to wait until the dogs become SPCA property, as they are now, then place them in knowledgeable foster homes for a minimum of one month before assessing them. Give them half a chance.
An even more fair solution is to stop the problem before it starts. Kelowna SPCA knew of Lapointe for years, and for years did nothing. Decades of abuse in BC have passed, and no legislation has ever been asked for by the SPCA. Lapointe is one of thousands of breeders in BC who need to be regulated, and the SPCA is aware of that too.
Lorie Chortyk makes a disturbing statement in this article about Lapointe's dogs: "The puppies are products of generations of non-socialized animals. There are some genetic factors there and they really need adult supervision and some obedience training." It sounds to me as though she is confusing genetics with socialization. The two are not the same. A mother dog who is isolated and desocialized all her life does not give birth to a desocialized pup if that pup is removed from the isolation and properly socialized....well, details I guess, but I like to think there is a tiny bit of dogsense in those who are making the decisions to kill for behaviour reasons. If the SPCA spokesperson has no grasp of dog behaviour, how are we to know any of the decision makers do? Because they took a course? There's a lot more to knowing dogs than taking a course, especially desocialized or aggressive dogs.
Cross your fingers for the next three victims, but I don't think there's much hope. They may not be chained to trees anymore, but they're far from safe where they are now.
Incidentally, Lapointe has shipped his remaining female dog and her three pups to Quebec already. Will they be spayed? Doubtful. Will he start up another breeding operation? Probably. Quebec is notorious for its puppy mills. The article seems to imply that Lapointe has not yet neutered the 12 year old male dog that the SPCA returned (on payment of fines?)to him. Now the SPCA is threatening to sieze that dog again. Is it me or would it make more sense to have neutered the dog before he went back? I guess that would cost too much.

to read the article: http://www.theokanagan.net/archive/2002/11/22/stories/3186_full.html>.