Well Jo, I don't know how one could possibly misinterpret this statement: "Can you meet his or hers Physical, Emotional + Social needs? (Fenced yard or Dog Run)" as meaning anything other than what it says. And given that the Kamloops SPCA only does "yard checks", not home checks, and given that the Vernon SPCA has advertised dogs as preferring to be left outside alone when the owners are away, and given that I personally witnessed the Kelowna SPCA knowingly sell a puppy to a family who were going to make it live in their windowless shed in the middle of December, I really didn't think to question the SPCA whether it REALLY meant what it said when equating a dog run or yard with meeting a dog's social and emotional needs.

Apparently you equate it as such too, as you admit that you can't see anything wrong with leaving a dog alone outside in a yard all day. Part of the problem with the SPCA is that its dog disposal business attracts employees who have such little understanding of a dog's emotional needs that they think isolating one of the most social creatures on earth is okay as long as the weather is nice. Anyone who truly understands a dog's needs knows that dogs are more social than people, and that to leave a dog in isolation for long periods of time every day is selfish and cruel. And that years of isolation often damages a dog so badly that it becomes unsocialized and dangerous. Leaving a dog alone in your yard is NEVER okay. Not with a doghouse, not in summer, not in spring, not in fall, not in winter. If you want something to live in your yard get a cow.