At last - after decades of ignoring thousands of complaints, while keeping the stores in business, the SPCA is seizing from pet stores. But we question the safety of animals now in the SPCA's "care". The SPCA is infamous for its ignorance of animal care, large animals and small, even for dogs and cats, of which it processes thousands every year. Small animal rescuers are angered and horrified by the ignorance and resulting neglect of animals the SPCA has in its "care".

This seizure has sent a message to pet store owners so it is a good thing. But the SPCA says that killing animals it has seized is not a breach of its animal welfare mandate, calling the animals it gets rid of by killing them "collateral damage".

Since AAS tracked the killing of seized animals by the SPCA and documented it so thoroughly, the SPCA has taken to hiding seized animals. So we have no idea if the "care" has improved and the killing of seized animals has stopped.

We know that some animals are returned to owners (if they pay what the SPCA demands) in shockingly poor condition and with fresh injuries. All this will soon be much more public than the AAS board can ever hope to be.

But instead of spending money to provide proper care, the SPCA spends many thousands of donator's dollars on lawyer to try to silence AAS for pointing out the lack of care. Illogical of the SPCA? Yes. Typical of the SPCA? Yes. The SPCA is its own worst enemy.

AAS's investigation of pet stores in 1999...