On Monday, August 30th, Ministry of Agriculture officials will meet with BC SPCA CEO Craig Daniell. I hope that the Ministry is finally taking its responsibility for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act seriously. Ministry officials have a duty to protect the interests of the public and I demand that they make the BC SPCA account for the 20 million dollars in donations and public money which it receives annually.

To my knowledge, the BC SPCA has NEVER fulfilled the PCA Act requirement to file an annual audited financial statement for Head Office AND for all of its branches with the Registrar of Companies. Former BC SPCA Treasurer Randy Reynolds made this contravention of the Act a big selling point for centralization. At the 2001 AGM, he told the Board of Directors that, with centralization, [voted in that November], for the first time in its history, the Society would be able to comply with this requirement.

Why then - since November 2001 - has the BC SPCA failed to file audited financials with the Registrar of Companies? A Review Engagement - NOT an audited statement - was filed for 2001. I was told this July by an official in the Corporate and Personal Properties, Registry, Ministry of Finance, NOTHING AT ALL has been filed for 2002 and 2003! This omission has been brought to the Honourable John van Dongen's attention many times over the last two years. On April 11, 2003 the Minister e-mailed me that "the Society has been diligent and is current with its financial reporting requirements".

This WAS not and IS not true and, in my opinion, the Ministry has failed to protect the interests of both BC SPCA donors and the needy animals they want their donations to help.

If you are as disgusted as I am, let the Minister know. There's an election next May; he may be more willing to listen!

Heather Pettit,
Ex-Vernon SPCA President and member of the board of directors