Is a blot on the SPCA copybook about to be expunged? Is the SPCA reforming? Things are looking more hopeful.

One of the most obvious proofs of the animal-use culture at the old SPCA was the fact that many employees, and some directors, bred and sold animals, mostly dogs and cats. The SPCA also permitted these employees and directors to surgically mutilate ears and tails. Surgical mutilation is against official SPCA policy, but like so many for-the-public SPCA policies, it was permitted by behind-the-scenes actual SPCA policy.

Breeding and selling meant that the day job paid to kill unwanted cats and dogs and the side job paid to breed more. You could almost call it "feeding your own industry". You could certainly call it an outrageous conflict of interest.

AAS pointed out to the SPCA in 2000 that allowing its employees to both kill and sell animals was unethical.

And we wrote in our Fall 2002 newsletter, "How dare the SPCA permit this until such time as the SPCA's shelters are empty of excess, unsellable dogs, cats, birds, snakes, rats, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs and other discarded creatures that the SPCA disposes of by the thousands. The SPCA's employees who breed and sell are the SPCA's own animals competition for homes."

We told about just one example of SPCA employee breeding and selling on the side: "The manager of the SPCA in Salmon Arm breeds and sells dogs, some with cropped ears and docked tails which is contrary to the BC SPCA's own Policy Statement against cosmetic surgical mutilation. She also ships dogs to purchasers sight unseen and disposes of old stock by offering it in "packages" as in this ad: "Shih Tzu, Cdn. Ch. two year old male, four females, two to seven years old. Vaccinated, microchipped. Kennel reduction- for sale as a package." If the dogs are not sterilized they could be used to set up another breeding operation."

We tackled them again over this - long after it had announced it was reforming in 2001 in AAS messageboard posts: http://www.animaladvocates.com/cgi-bin/newsroom.pl/noframes/read/1541 .

Finally - yesterday we were told - not by the SPCA of course, which has a 'no truck nor trade with AAS' policy, that in the future, new employees will have to sign an undertaking to not breed animals while in the SPCA's employ. Only fifty years and not a moment too soon! It's unmistakeable progress, but one can't help but wonder why the "reformed" SPCA took so long to act on this no-brainer.