The Cedar Sheep

As most people know, we have had two very troubling cases in Nanaimo since October 11, the still unresolved case of the hanging of "Lady" Bell, a Labrador-X young dog and the protracted death struggle of the Cedar sheep.

Here is a brief outline of what happened, followed by some suggestions for more effective enforcement of the PCA Act.

On the morning of November 20 Mr. McGuire, a hobby farmer, called the Nanaimo SPCA to tell them that his six sheep had been attacked by a pack of dogs. Apparently the SPCA offered to send a veterinarian out to put the animals out of their misery, but the offer was declined as Mr. McGuire said that the situation was under control and that somebody was coming to see to the sheep.

Mrs. McGuire went to ask her neighbour, Stephanie Walker, if her sheep had also been attacked. Stephanie Walker and her friend Michael Nix, then went over to the McGuire’s property. Mr. McGuire met Stephanie as he was on his way to work. He told Stephanie and Michael, that they could help and call in her friends, but that he had no money to get a veterinarian- or no phone number where he or his wife could be reached during the day. That left Ms.Walker trying futilely to do something.

About noon Ms.Walker, not Mr.McGuire who was at work, called the Nanaimo SPCA to say that the sheep were still alive, and to request assistance. Nobody came out to look, as the SPCA staff told Ms.Walker that the situation was under control. Ms Walker’s request was not forwarded to the shelter manager who was at a meeting, which was unfortunate.

The little group of desperate helpers took up a collection during the afternoon and called in a veterinarian. He could do nothing, as he needed permission to treat from an adult and only the two sons of Mr.McGuire were present. When the veterinarian returned later, we tried to help him save the only sheep who had more than a 10% chance of survival. The veterinarian worked by flashlight. When we left, the sheep had been herded into a makeshift pen- still alive. They had to be terrified and in excruciating the pain. Most of the sheep certainly should have been euthanised in the morning.

What can be learned from this situation?

If the SPCA had come out to the farm, which is a 15 minute drive from the SPCA shelter, the sheep could have been seized under the Critical Distress terms of the PCA and euthanised. Charges would have been simple to lay. I feel that the SPCA should have been out at the farm in a flash. Since the SPCA never attended, the McGuires are able to claim that they thought that Stephanie, who has no qualifications at all, was “qualified” to take charge, even though they told her not to spend any money and left her with no contact number. Unless there are unknown factors, this is a clear case of cruelty by McGuire, who abdicated his responsibilities as a sheep owner. For Mr. McGuire to try to pin the blame on the only person who tried to help- I won’t comment on that, except to say that the only people who could legally do anything were the sheep’s owner and the SPCA. They were not Stephanie Walker’s sheep. She had no legal power to make any decision. Even the veterinarian was powerless legally.

This is an example of what happens when employees are not trained as well as they should be in how to conduct investigations. The “everything’s-been- seen- to” attitude shown when told that the sheep were dying such a slow death was tragic for the sheep, who were in no position to speak for themselves. Everything had not been seen to. There seemed to be no chain of authority, nor any protocols to deal with what was so obviously an emergency situation. Nobody seemed to know what should be done, which makes both taking necessary action and obtaining prosecutions so difficult. I trust that all shelter staff, not just those in Nanaimo, will receive the training required to fulfill the SPCA’s primary legal duty- to enforce the PCA Act. Craig Daniell has indicated that he will be doing a lot of training, which is vitally important. With a real will to serve the animals, we can do better for them. We will all have to be watchful about local cases.

The handling by the Nanaimo SPCA of the investigation into the death of "Lady", the dog that was killed by a neighbour for chasing his chickens, and who may have either been beaten or chased to death, or strangled by hanging from a tree, is almost beyond belief. A decision about whether charges will be laid is imminent, according to an e-mail I received from Craig Daniell. Nearly four months have passed now and the dust gets thicker. However, Lady's memory lives on and will continue to do so. I will write about that case later, when I hear the results of the charges.

(See previous articles: http://www.animaladvocates.com/cgi-bin/newsroom.pl/read/1633