My comments:
Good for the Kelowna Daily Courier for presenting an unbiased story. This is more than we could ever expect from the Vancouver Sun or Global TV. Integrity on the part of the media is vital, but so often never happens.

Once again, the animals are the only victims. Gaston Lapointe exploited these dogs to make money (by selling their puppies) and now the SPCA exploits them to make money (asking for donations to help them carry on their so-called humane work, as well as holding them for ransom).
The SPCA has done these dogs no favours. They have taken them from one point of psychological neglect to another, that being their own "shelter".
Kathy Woodward plays the humanitarian by suggesting it would be cruel for a dog to have to live a life in fear of noises. Obviously she has never heard of desensitization. Obviously she has never heard of behavioural management. I thought the SPCA was supposed to be "moving forward in a new direction", not just creating new excuses for killing animals. Actually, this one is a well used and old, if not archaic excuse. And how many of us know people who have dogs with fear issues, who are scared of thunder, trains, airhorns, fireworks, open spaces, traffic, motorcycles,vacuum cleaners, etc. ? A lot of these people have had their dogs since they were pups. Do they kill them? No. They treat or manage the problem.
So again, the dogs suffer and possibly die. And does the SPCA ask for legislation to prevent people like Gaston Lapointe from desocializing and neglecting dogs in the first place? Not yet. They are still just capitalizing from the aftermath of cruelty that they won't lift a finger to try to eliminate. In my opinion, they are no better than the perpetrator. In fact they are worse, because they should know better. In reality, both Lapointe and the SPCA made money off these poor dogs. Exploitation attracts strange bedfellows- the SPCA and Gaston Lapointe are really just partners in crime, profiting from the existence of cruelty to animals.