This is a follow up letter sent on March 20, and I still haven't received a reply.

March 20, 2002

Mr. Doug Brimacombe,
BC SPCA,
322-470 Granville Street,
Vancouver, BC, V6C 1V5

Dear Mr. Brimacombe,

I am addressing this to you because of the serious allegations your manager Russ Forand has made against me. I refer you to my e-mail letter sent to Cindy Soules on Sunday March 17, 2002 where I expressed my disappointment with the SPCA's presentation at Springvalley's Career Day on Friday March 8, 2002.

The next day, Monday March 18, Russ Forand (Kelowna SPCA Manager) phoned the Vice President of TRACS (The Responsible Animal Care Society) to accuse the TRACS volunteer at the same school Career Day of upsetting the SPCA volunteers and destroying SPCA material. On Tuesday March 19 Russ Forand called me at my house to accuse me of the same things.

I can only assume Russ Forand has responded on your behalf to my letter of concerns to you.

During that conversation, Russ Forand accused me of shouting at the volunteers and messing up papers on their SPCA table. None of this happened. I did speak with the volunteers manning the table and their reply was to ignore me, because I was "only from that other group". If I had upset them I'm sure Kay Hartman and Larry (SPCA Staff) would have handled the situation on the spot. I only heard about this from Russ Forand eleven days later, after you received my letter.

At Springvalley School my humane education display included information on many animal issues, the CFHS video "Plight of Performing Animals" was shown and handouts were provided from various well respected animal welfare/protection organizations.
I also included information from the UBC Animal Welfare Program which is partly sponsored by the BC SPCA.

Russ Forand informed me that he had filed a complaint with the Kelowna RCMP accusing me of mischief, which could lead to criminal charges and a criminal record. I was shocked and upset by his accusation. I felt he was using his position as an ex RCMP officer to threaten and intimidate me. Russ Forand also said he had phoned Springvalley School to inform them and he said they were surprised to hear about this. He did all this before he even asked me if it had indeed happened. TRACS has always been invited back to Springvalley Career Day.

These unfounded allegations are very serious. This is the third time Russ Forand has threatened and intimidated me after I have voiced some concerns. In 1999, after I submitted to the BC SPCA head office a report of my observations of the mistreatment of the animals in the Shriner's Circus in Kelowna, he asked the Kelowna SPCA Board of Directors to expel me from the Board on the grounds of undermining his work. (This was at the very same time I received the BC SPCA Humane Education Award for the public awareness campaign I conducted on the inherent cruelty to animals in the circus. The end result was Kelowna adopting it's "Wild and Exotic Animal Prohibition Bylaw")

In February 2001 I expressed my concerns about safety issues at the shelter and the poor sanitary conditions of the dog kennels. (refer to my letter of March 2, 2001, which you still haven't replied to.) For this I was banned from the shelter.

Russ Forand's behaviour towards me this week continues his pattern of threats and intimidation. I know he has also threatened and treated others in very much the same way. Is this how the SPCA handles people who voice concerns? In all of these situations I have either written or copied head office and I have never received a reply.

I know these are difficult times for the BC SPCA. There has been a significant loss of public trust and a great deal of criticism (some of it from me) over how the Society has operated in the past. My original intention in writing to you about the SPCA's presentation at Springvalley's Career Day was to hopefully achieve a positive change on how the SPCA presents itself in public. Russ Forand's response to me did nothing to address these concerns, so I have to write to you again.

Due to the seriousness of this matter it is incumbent upon you to respond not only to my original concerns about the career day but also to the manner to which Russ Forand confronted me.

Sincerely,

Connie Mahoney

e-mail: cmahoney@silk.net

cc. Cindy Soules
cc. Craig Naherniak