"Daniell said he had looked into these incidents and while they are factual, the employee responsible for the terrier's care was identified and "action was taken."

Daniell told that to Sun writer Barbara Yaffe which she quoted in her two-page spread "A prison camp for animals" (below)

Mr Daniell appears to be taking credit for "taking action".

First: the "action" was to move the manager to another SPCA branch full of helpless animals, and

Second: the "action" was demanded by the City of Burnaby. Shortly after, the City renewed its dog control contract with the SPCA.

We have tried for four years to believe the SPCA but it just is not rational to believe anything the SPCA says.

A prison camp for animals

Barbara Yaffe on the BC SPCA

Date: Thursday, 29 April 2004

Neglect of suffering animals and excessive euthanasia happen too often at society shelters, two insiders say

Barbara Yaffe
Vancouver Sun
Thursday, April 29, 2004
"Most of us don't spend much time thinking about what goes on at SPCA shelters, assuming society staff and volunteers do the best they can for homeless animals.
According to two SPCA workers, this is not always the case. They came forward recently with some disturbing stories about the way the organization's charges are treated.
SPCA management did not refute much of what the two had to say.
Annie Swift, on unpaid leave, is an employee at a suburban Lower Mainland shelter; Brigitta MacMillan is a volunteer at a second shelter. Both started at the B.C. SPCA in 1999.
The two approached me with photographs and e-mails documenting some horrific situations to illustrate their contention that the SPCA is, as Swift puts it: "an organization that exists to employ people, and the animals are a commodity."
Both women used the term "Auschwitz" -- the name of a Second World War concentration camp in Poland -- to describe what they've witnessed in their respective shelters, and said there is an alarming insensitivity around the practice of euthanasia.
An excessive use of euthanasia bothers them; they claim potentially adoptable animals are sometimes killed for lack of resources or because they're suffering from a condition as innocuous as a cold.
They are also troubled by the fact sick or injured animals too often suffer for days without getting access to veterinary care.
Craig Daniell, chief executive officer of the society, says the SPCA is far from a perfect organization. It has financial challenges and shelters in dire need of replacement. But no single agency can be expected to bear total responsibility for society's homeless animals.
The public needs to play its part in respecting and caring for animals. Daniel correctly noted that some city councils which contract services from the SPCA think only in terms of budget numbers, rather than animal welfare.
The SPCA relies heavily on donations to make up its $20-million budget and donations from areas beyond the Lower Mainland have been declining since the organization began centralizing its operations in Vancouver. While the SPCA has been running multimillion-dollar annual deficits, this year it's expected to balance its books. The problem is, that to bring its books into the black, the SPCA has had to lay off many of its staff -- another 25 in 2004 -- and cut back on public education and other programs.
Aside from more donor money, the SPCA is pushing for some action on the part of municipalities around B.C. Most city councils have yet to introduce bylaws making spaying and neutering mandatory. Nor do they provide grants to ensure needy pet owners have access to the procedure, which is so essential in curtailing animal overpopulation.
Also, in contrast to the B.C. government, which provides an annual grant of $71,000 to the SPCA (specifically for the training of animal cruelty investigators), Alberta gives its SPCA an annual grant of $750,000, Ontario, $700,000. Money like that would allow the organization to hire more animal caregivers, upgrade dilapidated shelters and reinstate programs it has had to cut.
The SPCA takes in 57,000 animals a year. It does not have statistics on the number that get euthanized although it is working on compiling them for The Vancouver Sun.
Daniell said he was distressed but not surprised that the SPCA workers had come forward with concerns about the society. "We are not a perfect organization, far from it."
He said shelters in some parts of B.C. are "wanting," but would not compare any to a concentration camp. He cited Nanaimo, Campbell River, Prince Rupert and Prince George as being first on the list needing repair or replacement if money were available. In addition, Surrey badly needs a new shelter, as does the Coquitlam-Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows area.
Daniell acknowledged that a lack of resources would be a factor that could lead to euthanasia, especially if such a circumstance were combined with other factors such as the animal suffering from a cold and/or an inability to adopt the animal out.
Shelters have only so much space and finite budgets. But he also pointed out this should not be happening in the Lower Mainland where shelters tend to have more resources.
A B.C. SPCA Workplace Review report last April asked SPCA employees to express concerns about their organization. Nearly 30 per cent of respondents focused their complaints on animal care and standards, policies and procedures.
Their specific complaints were alarming: "Euthanasia is administered inconsistently; animals stressed; animals do not receive enough direct care and attention; animals are being warehoused; veterinary attention is sometimes delayed; staff does not seem to care."
Daniell freely provided the report to The Sun. Can Yaffe give you a copy of this for mediation?
The two workers who came forward assert that when animals are seized as a result of an SPCA cruelty investigation it is possible for them to wind up receiving poorer care at the SPCA than the place from which they were seized, or they might wind up being euthanized for any one of a number of reasons.
Daniell said the two women likely haven't seen the settings from which such animals are rescued. He personally believes animals are better off dead than living in such environments or spending their lives in a cage.
Here again, money would enable small shelters feeling pressure to keep animals for longer periods of time. More staff might translate into more contact with animals who are known as companion animals because they desperately need human contact. Dogs and cats often become extremely depressed and stressed in crowded shelters where they are left in cages, and this can lead to them being classed in SPCA jargon as "unadoptable" and killed.
Private animal shelters in the Lower Mainland, which tend to be highly critical of the SPCA, often take in some of these critters destined for death (SPCA volunteers sneak the animals out the back door). The private shelter owners say they have been able to nurture and rehabilitate the animals so that they quickly become adoptable and get a second chance at life in a new home.
Swift and MacMillan showed photos of cats in SPCA cages less that a metre square. In one of several photos taken surreptitiously by volunteers over a period of years, four cats are shown without food or water in their bowls and a litter box badly in need of cleaning.
Daniell, who joined the organization in November, 2002, said the photo was years old and if it happened today, "that would be grounds for dismissal." The cages remain the same size, although accommodate only one cat each.
In another photo shown by the women, an emaciated elderly terrier, unable to stand, is lying in a cage semi-conscious in his own feces. The dog was made to wait days to be examined by a vet, at which time it was euthanized.
Another photo shows a kitten with maggots, which waited two days before receiving care. By then, it was too late to save the two-month old tabby.
Daniell said he had looked into these incidents and while they are factual, the employee responsible for the terrier's care was identified and "action was taken."
He said animals currently see a vet whenever vet care is required. He cautioned there is some subjectivity involved in making that decision so it's at least possible some workers might dispute his assertion.
A new system of management is now in place and staff can take concerns to managers and managers can contact the SPCA's chief of operations to address problems.
Swift said that in her experience her concerns were not followed up by management although she has been on leave for a while. She also said she had been disparagingly labelled "a puppy hugger" by some of her fellow employees, Canadian Union of Public Employees members, too many of whom have become desensitized and work exclusively for their paycheques.
Daniell acknowledged this is indeed an unavoidable problem.
In the end, many of the difficulties experienced at the SPCA derive from poor management practices in the past and an ongoing lack of cash.
Vancouver is a well-off community; it is truly shameful that we leave our homeless animals to face such precarious futures."