Towards Accountability

The Provincial Board of the Nova Scotia SPCA has laid seige to its own Cape Breton branch, located in Sydney. In early November, apparently without much warning, an order went out to the Sydney shelter to shut down. ...

While such disputes between branches are relatively rare, the board's sudden is the most recent of a long list of questionable actions that cast the SPCA in the role of a charity that has forgotten its purpose. Sure, the organization operates shelters around the province that (with the exception of the Metro Shelter) take in any number of stray and unwanted animals to find them new homes. Doubtless they do a lot of good. Although not all of the healthy ones are adopted, by and large it seems that the charity does the best it can.

On a regular basis, however, glaring headlines tell of large-scale SPCA seizures of animals - dogs, cats, horses - from people depicted as hoarders or abusers. "Worst case I've ever seen," claims the SPCA special constable in charge of the seizure. The public's heartstrings and wallets are plucked. Donations pour in, and adoptions are hastily arranged, while the accused are cast in permanent disgrace and face criminal charges.

But the story doesn't always have a happy ending.  

In an alarming number of cases, few or no charges result. Why? Mysteriously, the SPCA lacks sufficient grounds. Charges laid are often dropped later, due to lack of evidence. But that can take months and years. And by that time, the seized animals have long since been sold for adoption, never to be seen again by the hapless owners. Some of the accused are subjected to out-of-court demands to hand over exorbitant sums to the SPCA for the care and keeping of animals that should never have been seized in the first place. Others are given pre-trial conditions banning them from owning or being near animals.

In a particularly bizarre case, after a seizure of dozens of purebred dogs and other animals from her large ranch in BC, a woman was jailed for months for allegedly violating such conditions. But she has yet to be prosecuted on the charges themselves. 

Against the spectre of suffering animals, the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" falls by the wayside. Little attention is given to legalities, let alone outcomes. Nor is it widely known that the SPCA's "special constables" sometimes ride roughshod over legal requirements, failing to do thorough on-site investigations, issue prior warnings to owners, submit truthful information for warrant applications, or improperly carry out seizures.

With an intact reputation as a do-good charity entrusted with the task of law enforcement, courts are loathe to hold the SPCA accountable for such violations of fundamental Charter rights. 

Although it is paid for its work - salaried special constables, shelter managers, and executive directors oversee the work of volunteers - the SPCA is viewed as a welcome aid making untold sacrifices in an age of shrinking government budgets. As a result, animal owners who are falsely accused must bear the burdens of trauma and loss alone. Sometimes, their beloved animals die in the process. Rarely, if ever, do these hapless individuals recover their property or their reputations. Families fall apart, careers are lost.

Across Canada, an epidemic of SPCA abuses goes unnoticed - abuses of the law, abuses of power, abuses of animals (who undergo trauma as well, and sometimes do not recover); abuses of the public's trust. The aim of this blog is to bring this epidemic to light. The information here is factual. Opinions will be clearly differentiated from factual reporting.