Drowning is Inhumane and a Crime, Warns BC SPCA
July 27, 2004. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. The BC SPCA is growing increasingly concerned over reports that some BC residents are resorting to inhumane means such as drowning to rid their neighbourhoods of so-called "nuisance" animals. "The reports we've heard relate mainly to stray and wandering cats," says Hugh Coghill, Senior Animal Protection Officer for the BC SPCA. "We believe people are setting traps and then drowning the animals, which is extremely disturbing to us." Coghill says such behaviour is not only inhumane, but could lead to a charge of animal cruelty against the perpetrator.

While Coghill acknowledges that drowning of animals may have occurred historically in communities, he says it is completely unacceptable by today's standards. "Drowning is a form of suffocation that causes horrendous distress for an animal," he says. "It is an act of animal cruelty and will be treated as such by the SPCA." He adds that when euthanasia is the only option for an animal, a veterinarian or other animal health care professional should administer it humanely and painlessly.

Coghill points out that people, not pets, are the root cause of surplus and abandoned animals in communities. "It is blatantly wrong to hurt innocent animals when it is society that creates the problem," he says. "People need to take responsibility for pet overpopulation by spaying and neutering their pets and by ensuring that stray animals are rescued and given the care they deserve." Each year thousands of unwanted cats and kittens are abandoned by their owners in communities around BC. Tragically, many of them die painful deaths from starvation, attacks by predators, disease and accidents.

"The way we treat animals is a reflection of our own humanity and we have to make it clear that 'disposing' of animals in ways that cause pain and distress is just not acceptable in our society," says Coghill.

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Further information:
Hugh Coghill, Senior Animal Protection Officer, BC SPCA: (250) 213-1689;
Lorie Chortyk, Community Relations Manager, BC SPCA:
(604) 647-1316, 1-800-665-1868, or 830-7179 (cell).