Vet sues SPCA, backs van Dongen

By Christina Toth - Times

Quirinis C. van Dongen is no animal abuser, said a Langley veterinarian whose clinic is suing the B.C. SPCA for non-payment of $10,000.

"If anything he would more likely be considered a Mother Teresa of animals," Dr. Gordon McDonald said Thursday.

"Q.C. goes to auctions and he takes home animals no one else wants and gives them back their health. In essence, he's taking on everyone else's discards," said McDonald, who specializes in cattle.

A veterinarian from his clinic, Langley Animal Clinic, was present during an April 2003 seizure of 108 head of cattle and horses from the Aldergrove and Matsqui Prairie farms owned by van Dongen, who is the 83-year-old father of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries Minister John van Dongen. The animals were taken when van Dongen was not at home. At the time, the SPCA officials were concerned there wasn't enough shelter and clean water for the animals, but all the livestock were returned to the senior van Dongen the following week.

McDonald said SPCA officials don't understand what van Dongen is doing and the animal welfare agency seems to "have absolutely no understanding of livestock."

McDonald said van Dongen had just purchased several animals at an auction before the April 2003 SPCA seizure, so it was not surprising some animals were not in great shape.

"From what I've seen, these animals are taken care of, on the cattle side of things. I think [van Dongen's] been persecuted by the SPCA, which may or may not be for political reasons, I can't say for certain," McDonald said.

McDonald's clinic is now suing the SPCA for $10,000 for non-payment of bills dating back to 2000 for work, including attending the raid on van Dongen's farms.

"Historically, they did pay. We carried them for a long time and we also gave them a discounted rate. Then they stopped paying. First they said they'd pay and then claimed they were not responsible. It's a simple case of evasion of payment. I got sick of listening to their stupid excuses," he said.

However, Lori Chortyk of the B.C. SPCA said the animal clinic can't produce invoices for work it is claiming.

"We're not saying they didn't do the work. We'd be happy to pay. We've gone through our records but we can't find anything, From our point of view, it's a matter of due diligence. We do pay our bills but we have to be financially responsible. As a charity we can't blankly write cheques to people .

Langley Animal registered a claim at Surrey Provincial Court and is now awaiting for a settlement conference with the SPCA.

posted on 04/29/2005