City staff have nothing to gain by lying and deceiving the public about activities going on in their shelter. They are not donation driven nor do they rely on bidding for contracts and staying in favor with the City they work for. There are several examples in the area I live, where public complaints about city staff have led to an inquiry and subsequent discipline and/or firing of the people in question. The City cannot lead an inquiry into SPCA staff activities, they simply throw it back at the SPCA with the hopes they'll actually do something about it. Then the City can pass the buck by telling the complainant "we are aware of your concerns and have been in touch with the appropriate persons at the SPCA, and they will deal with it". In my experience, if a City staff member's conduct is in question, it is dealt with, probably because if it's not, people will remember this at election time. The bottom line is: a City has a genuine mechanism for dealing with complaints about their staff, and the SPCA does not.