WHAT'S GONE WRONG WITH THE VANCOUVER POUND

KILLING HEALTHY DOGS IN A NO-KILL PUBLIC FACILITY

for immediate release

April 9, 2005. The Vancouver Animal Shelter, formerly know as the Vancouver
Pound, is a city-run and taxpayer funded facility which bills itself as
Canada's 1st No-Kill Shelter on its website. The staff and volunteers who
work and volunteer their time there do so in large part because of the
shelter's commitment to a no-kill policy. Fundraising letters and appeals
always mention the no-kill status of the shelter.

Imagine the shock of horrified no-kill activists when they discovered city
employees quietly bringing drugged animals into an after-hours veterinary
clinic in Vancouver to have them killed. When the activists started asking
questions about the animals, the city staff refused to answer, calling on a
supervisor and quickly removing the dogs from sight. The activists, one a
former politician who had voted for increased funding for the shelter based
on the no-kill policy, the other a prominent campaigner for no-kill
shelters and humane bylaws in the lower mainland, were then ejected from
the clinic at 41st and Fraser by the owner of the clinic who tried to make
arrangements to have the dogs killed at another time and place. Both
activists waited on the sidewalk for the city employee in charge to exit,
Ms. Katy Ernst, who spoke briefly with them but refused to answer most of
their questions pertaining to the dogs. She did say that the dogs were not
ordered destroyed by a court, and that one of the dogs was alleged to have
bitten the former owner, although this was not corroborated by physical or
medical evidence. Nor was Ernst able to confirm whether or not the dogs had
been properly evaluated by an animal behaviourist for treatment of
behavioural problems caused by abuse and trauma.

Both activists offered to locate qualified dog trainers (in secure
facilities if need be) and pay for the treatment of any behavioural
problems the Vancouver Animal Shelter staff were unequipped or unwilling to
deal with. This offer was refused at the time by Ms. Ernst, but remains
open. Earnst also refused to reveal who order the dogs killed, and the
shelter manager Nancy Clay, who is also a dog breeder, was unavailable at
the time. Bob Christofoli her assistant, was not at work that day either.
Attempts to contact shelter staff and managerial staff at the shelter to
discover the current status of the dogs and investigate how such an
incident should come to pass have been unsuccessful at this point.

City Councilor Tim Louis expressed outrage at the situation and plans to
investigate the matter. Said Louis I am strongly opposed to euthanasia of
animals and called placement of special needs dogs needing rehabilitation
in the community with qualified volunteers a practical solution to the
problem. Louis is on the Finance Committee, which oversees funding to the
shelter.

Financial and managerial oversight of the facility clearly needs to be
reviewed, as Freedom of Information requests by Animal Rights Coalition
spokesperson Donna Liberson which advocates for no-kill shelters reveal
that city staff had been systematically destroying legal records of animals
which the the Animal Rights Coalition had inquired about. Their fate is not
known, and in a public facility, this lack of accountability and
transparency is both unacceptable and shocking. Liberson comments: "We also
discovered veterinary bills paid for by the City of Vancouver for animals
that were not Vancouver Pound animals. A forensic audit of the pound must
be done."

Former Park Commissioner Roslyn Cassells received numerous calls from
volunteers and staffers at the shelter reporting concerns that they knew or
suspected that animals were being killed away from the public eye. This has
now been clearly evidenced with a number of witnesses to this incident.
Furthermore she received calls about animal research done on shelter dogs
by UBC researchers studying the effect of social and physical deprivation
on dogs. Some of the dogs in the study who were in the deprived group had
such declines in their overall health that they moved from being considered
adoptable to unadoptable. The debate over the ethics of using seized and
lost dogs, who could easily be someone's pet gone missing, in a long study
which could adversely effect their health went unspoken as staff and
volunteers asking questions or questioning the study were strongly
discouraged. Eventually the dogs in the study, which was never reviewed at
city council, were moved to a locked area in the facility where only
specific staff and researchers were permitted. Other staffers and
volunteers who had previously been regularly visiting and exercising the
dogs were forbidden to do so. During the period of the study the animals
were removed from the possibility of adoption and were used only as
research subjects for the UBC study. A number of dogs was released
informally to UBC researchers. What was the fate of those animals?

Cassells commented When I was an elected representative on the park board
from 1999-2002 I received a lot of complaints from members of the public
that the pound was not doing enough bylaw enforcement. When I asked pound
officials about this they said they needed more money for enforcement. I
voted in favor of large budget increases to the pound to increase bylaw
enforcement in the park system and improve animal welfare. However, despite
huge infusions of cash and significant infrastructure improvements to the
physical plant and the level of staffing, the complaints increased. I am
concerned about how the money is being used at this facility. I am
concerned about the fact that the animals do not receive basic preventative
vaccinations and their veterinary care seems inadequate. Where did all the
money go that was meant to help the animals? Why is the public being asked
to donate money to this facility under the guise of a no-kill shelter when
the shelter is clearly killing animals and even using them as research
subjects. A homeless animal needs advocacy, not exploitation. A strong
light needs to be shone on the Vancouver Animal Shelter at this time. The
City of Vancouver needs to decide if they are willing to go to bat for
homeless animals or not. They are truly the most voiceless and powerless
members of our community. If we are truly civilized we must oppose any
attempts to abuse, kill, or use these living creatures in any way which
goes against their nature.

The greatness of a nation is measured by how its weakest members are
treated Ghandi