I got the following email from Responsible Pet Owners Alliance, Texas concerning the report that
20/20 did recently on the practices of the Dallas SPCA. As always,
permission has been granted by RPOA to cross post.

--- Original Message -----
From: <MikeEisenfeld@webtv.net>
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 11:15 PM
Subject: 20/20 v. SPCA of Texas, part 2

I continued to follow the SPCA story yesterday. I was amazed by the
volume of response on the ABC message board; concerned about what needed
to be done
if 20/20's allegations were true; equally concerned about the damage
that this could do to the SPCA; and amazed that no local media were
publishing anything on the story yet.

It seemed to me that a lot of the question hinged on the opinion of the
undercover veterinarian, Dr. Gaylon TeSlaa. He's a practicing vet in
Chatsworth, CA and was easily findable via a Google Search.

I emailed him yesterday afternoon to ask him to respond to the pictures
posted on the SPCA site yesterday and asked how he came to be on the
show.
He responded last night (unedited; ellipses are his):

Mike:
I would be happy to respond. First, my name was given to ABC
(apparently) because I have been a real sucker for helping out a host of rescue
organizations in the Los Angeles area since early in the 90's. It would
be no exaggeration to state I have allowed myself to donate my
services (and goods) to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars
over the years. I have been sympathetic to the cause of animal welfare,
and the health and well being of animals in need. What happens to
people who show
themselves to be charitable toward worthy causes? Everyone comes
knocking on their door, that's what! If someone objectively looked at my
history, I doubt that they could really question either my motives or
credibility.

But then, objectivity is often lost where it comes to "hot button"
issues! What has been happening over the past decade or so in California
is thatincreasingly there has been war waged between municipal
departments of
animal control (and affiliated humane societies and SPCA's) and private
rescue groups. Lines get blurred quickly when private rescuers start
to resemble (or become) "collectors", etc. To make a long story short,
more and more there have been municipal DAR's (Departments of Animal
Control) usurping police power and weilding this power aggressively. I
have seen
some pretty disturbing stuff.

I have also seen some pretty disturbing treatment and care of animals,
and I cannot stress enough that DAR's, Humane societies, and SPCA's
serve a vital and necessary function. My view is that however many well
intentioned and well meaning people are involved in this aspect of our
society, the ladder to successful advancement is still connected with
production numbers
and impressive statistics...therefore driving some of the people with
dreams of advancement and acclaim to step on as many bodies as it takes
to achieve their objectives.

I looked at the photos posted on the SPCA website you mentioned. My
part in this venture did not take me to the locations shown there...I
only went on the one raid and visited one other home (which was that
woman's - amela's -mother). The photos from these other sites are clearly
NOT representative of what I saw on the raid I went on. I believe my
comments in the piece
speak for themselves. However, I can say that having been present
when Mr.Garcia was getting the judge's signature for the raid, I can tell
you that the general strategy is to depict everything in the worst
possible
light. Get a picture of an animal behind a chain link fence with a
pathetic expression and a few close-ups on some unscooped poop (which I
got plenty of AT the SPCA as well), and you can pull at anyone's heart
strings!

I was MOST shocked and appalled at their not being a veterinarian
involved at any point in the process. I believe (because I could find no
evidence to the contrary) that this SPCA is actually having technicians
or unlicensed
veterinarians performing spays and neuters. I asked an awful lot of
questions before coming to that conclusion. On the other hand, the
facility is absolutely beauuuuuutiful! It was a close second (on the
shock
and appalling scale) that there is such a lack of due process...minimal
to no warnings, pre-emptive inspections, no coaching or advice on how
to meet
standards...it was just a really sad and depressing experience which I
was only willing to be involved with to debunk the notion that anyone
involved in that business/industry is immune from criticism, questioning
of
motives, or errors in judgement.

I hope that helps.
Dr T