To Michael Steven, President
and
The Board of Directors, BCSPCA

Re: Urgent Matters for the Meeting of the Board of Directors to be held on September 7, 2002

Dear President and the Board:

With the upcoming meeting of the board on September 7th, I urge you to address the following matters which are urgent and appeal to you for quick resolution and immediate action to address the following on behalf of the animals you are mandated to protect, the public in the province of BC and the donors who pledge and donors who leave money in their will for the benefit of animals.

There are 3 categories which need to be addressed:
Protection of the Animals
Protection of the Public
Relationship With Community Partners

While these topics have been mentioned before there must be concrete steps taken to turn around the deteriorating downward spiral as I feel the BCSPCA is in real danger of collapse until measures are taken immediately.

Protection of the Animals - Real protection for the animals is in the 5 Freedoms of the BCSPCA. Yet real protection for the animals in need is faltering or non-existent for those animals in desperate straits. Chained backyard dogs have had no real help other than a few isolated cases, yet there are thousands of animals living in horrible, isolated conditions. Many are hungry and isolated, and winter will be soon upon us. I call for you to use your public relations contacts to declare loudly and clearly that you will be persuing those who would have their animal in conditions against the 5 Freedoms. You know that animals continue to experience this cruelty and their owners flaunt contempt for their animal's welfare.

Backyard breeders must be stopped! Animals are being bred in large numbers and many millions of dollars in undeclared income. The BCSPCA must become very committed to stopping the carnage from this. It is despicable and one of the main contributors to the euthanization of hundreds of thousands of animals and the dumping of hundreds of thousands more. Please begin working on laws for all breeders, and "litter licensing" law. This must apply to all those involved, the breeders, the sellers and the retail stores who sell these animals. This is a much needed protection matter for the safety and security of the consumer as well as the animal.

Protection of the Public - With the amount of research there is to support the very real threat of danger to the public, the BCSPCA must realize that they could be involved should a member of the public, adult or child is mauled or killed by a dangerous dog whose history is known and the issue not dealt with. So far, this appears to be dealt with on a case by case basis, after the fact as a routine animal control matter. I strongly urge the BCSPCA to become very proactive in lobbying the various levels of government and municipalities for laws to address this very real threat. By allowing residents to acquire and keep these dogs in conditions that make them dangerous to the public, it is the same as having a loaded gun in the closet. Some day one of these dogs will jump the fence, get off their chain and viciously attack.
By not addressing this problem with laws against backyard dogs and implementing the 5 Freedoms to support it, you will someday have to face and defend yourself for what steps you have not taken.

Relationship with Community Partners - There has been a serious erosion in this area. The BCSPCA needs the community partners and volunteers and it should not have escaped your notice that these partners and volunteers have changed much, especially in the past decade. While the love and dedication for the animals by us is just as great, so is our dedication to making things better. There are, however, a couple of key differences, namely, that with new technology and communications, we have the ability to act in a manner that can benefit many animals and animals as a whole. This is a powerful tool for animal welfare. Yes, we still do care for the animals one on one, but at the same time are dedicating effort to change for animals we may not be personally involved with and for those yet to come. We have claimed our place to speak on behalf of the animals too and this is something that I hope the BCSPCA understands and will undertake a spirit of cooperation in it's dealings with their community partners. A vast amount of assistance and manpower could be used if a cooperative relationship is built. Right now, it is in miniscule proportion to what it could be. There are a number of contentious issues which must be addressed.

Conflict of Interest guidlines must be put in placed and enforced immediately. To hear of employees and volunteers breeding animals and operating as a puppy mill is outrageous; cutting ears and docking tails of their dogs to conform to a breed standard that is against it's own policy is sickening and those involved with other forms of mutilation of animals such a surgery to laser declaw cats as part of their practice should no way be involved. Persons working with the BCSPCA should not have a long criminal history or be on probation as is happening at the present time. I strongly urge you to revamp your hiring policy to screen for these undesirable traits. Employees should be bondable and thorough background check including criminal record check undertaken for those working on behalf of animals in a position of trust.

I must say in closing that the the BCSPCA must do more concerning spay and neuter. Many rescue groups are doing as much and more than the BCSPCA. It is time to do the bulk of these sterilizations since it is the biggest and best funded in this province. Real effort on your part to reduce the numbers of animals will go a long way to building bridges with community partners in this province.

I hope to hear that there will be clear action steps taken to address these "key" problem areas.

Sincerely,
Anita Horne