Build a better future for animals and their guardians
The laws the SPCA enforces are not fairly and impartially administered
Advocating For Provincial Government Animal Policing
“Although charged with law enforcement responsibilities, the [Ontario SPCA] OSPCA is opaque, insular, unaccountable, and potentially subject to external influence, and as such Ontarians cannot be confident that the laws it enforces will be fairly and impartially administered,” Minnema, a judge with Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, wrote in a decision.
On July 14, 2019, the Ontario Superior court declared that the Ontario government had a year to re-write the legislation governing the Ontario SPCA. The animal cruelty legislation is simillar in British Columbia.
Justice Timothy Minnema observed that some sections were not compliant with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He noted 21 sections of the OSPCA Act that are “of no force and effect” and suggested that the act might have to be re-written from scratch.
The SPCA legislation in British Columbia is similarly ineffective because "it is rarely fair to BC's animal guardians or their pets," says Felicia Allen, BC SPGA's founder who has been successful in the courts challenging the BC SPCA's animal policing's alleged continual breaches of its legislation.
Felicia recently tried to make the case to the BC Court Of Appeal that animal guardians should not have to pay the BC SPCA's costs if successful in obtaining the return of their animals as a result of court action. The Judge disagreed ruling that the animal guardian has to pay their own costs and the BC SPCA costs irregardless of the animal guardian's success in Court. The Judge's decision was in accord with the BC animal laws.
"The reality is that when the BC SPCA seize a furry family member the return of the animal is a rarity. Be prepared to say goodbye forever to your beloved pets with the existing animal laws in our Province." says Felicia.
Animal guardians have no rights over their pets
The laws have forsaken the importance of animals and their loved ones being together. Animals are routinely seized and the majority will never see their loved ones again.
The British Columbia Farm Industry Review Board (BCFIRB) reviews BC SPCA animal seizures. Our research from the years 2020 to 2023 shows that over 80% of the hearings ruled that the BC SPCA keep the animals for either their destruction or sale. As per the existing laws, the BCFIRB Tribunal awards the costs to the BC SPCA. "The BC FIRB tribunal members fail to consider the severe damage to the wanted animals loosing their beloved guardians. It's a cut and dry process." says Felicia. "The BC SPCA spends thousands on hiring vets, their own constables, experts and animal haulers who on their payroll vouch for the organization who clearly do not want to return the animal(s) to their guardian."
RCMP officers who accompany animal police officers are used by the BC SPCA against the animal guardian in these hearings.
Why the RCMP officers, who were supposedly present at the animal raid to keep the peace, are used to testify against animal guardians is anyone's guess and suggests a further misuse of public spending?
The animal guardian who is often not aware of even the legal process is completely caught off guard. These days no one has the money or resources to take on the BC SPCA in any of these processes so the animal guardians are mostly self-represented.
Animal guardians are the loosers and so are their pets
The vast majority of Tribunal and Court hearings are not about those who run puppy mills or do the unthinkable to animals. The hearings involve ordinary BCers or rescues that the BC SPCA have raided and blamed for the condition of their surrendered animals. Ordinary animal guardians are outnumbered in hearings and courts by people who are hired to be witnesses by the BC SPCA.
Tribunal members are swayed overwhelmingly by the people on the BC SPCA's payroll which include veterinarians, animal constables, haulers and lawyers. In comparison, the animal guardian and their animal(s) have none of the financial resources accessible to the BC SPCA to hire a multitude of people and professionals.
The guardian's animal is a by-product who will in the great majority of cases never see their animal and human families again. Even in hearings where a Tribunal member observes that the animal guardian "loves" and "cares" about the animal(s), the BC SPCA's entourage ensures that the animal is not returned to the guardian in almost all of the legal forums.
"I can tell you from nearly fifty years of rescuing animals that an abuser does not fight for the return of an animal in any forum. An abuser moves on to the next animal. The BC SPCA animal officers do not use their resources on catching the real animal abusers because they do not have the required training and lack the education.. The only officers with that type of specialized work experience and education exist in the RCMP. So a lot of what you see in the BCFIRB tribunal, Supreme Court or Criminal court are not the real animal abusers or criminals, they are guardians who are willing to loose everything just for the return of their beloved animals."
Felicia Allen, Animal Rescuer and Activist
The BC SPCA animal seizure review process is one of the most flawed types of procedures that exist. The animal guardian is limited to the information that the BC SPCA reviewer (Marcie Moriarity, a lawyer by profession) decides to release. However, should the review outcome be appealed to the BCFIRB tribunal any and all information can be released. This often prejudices someone who has had more run-ins with the BC SPCA's animal policing even if the animals were returned on a prior occasion.
Statistically, hiring legal representation rarely beats the odds of permanently loosing the wanted animals to the BC SPCA. The best interests of the animals pits the animal guardian against the BC SPCA. The latter usually wins out and the animal is either euthanized or sold to a stranger. Courts and Tribunals have not defined the best interests of a wanted animal as being with its loved ones and the animals irrevocably suffer for it as do their helpless guardians.
We haven't seen one outcome of a tribunal or court hearing where the BC SPCA was ordered to use their abundant resources to help the animal guardian keep and care for their pet.
BC SPGA
Although the animals suffer irrevocably - their fate is mostly death or re-sale to strangers. That doesn't seem to even faze anyone except the helpless animal guardian. It might as well be a car auction.
The BC SPGA maintains that the hearing process should favor the pets being returned to their guardians - the BC SPCA should be ordered to help BC guardians to keep their wanted animals which should be the focus and priority of the hearings. From a legal standpoint, animals are their owners property. From a financial standpoint, the public's donations pay for the BC SPCA to prosecute animal guardians. Those public donations should not be used to fight animal guardians who want to keep their pets they should be used to help the wanted animals stay with their guardians.
"We doubt very much that if animals did have a say, that they would agree to be seperated from their loved ones forever. We doubt that the animals would agree to have their lives ended. We doubt that the animals would agree to be kept like prisoners in cages until sold like slaves to somebody else. The BC SPCA is clearly not speaking for animals they are destroying wanted animals and selling them for profit by the thousands every year."
BC SPGA
Loosing a wanted pet to the BC SPCA is too costly for the average BC household
Having an animal with animal policing as it exists in British Columbia means that an animal guardian can loose everything including their assets, car, boat, or savings to the BC SPCA when trying to fight for the return of their pet(s). Since the animals are almost never returned to their guardian the BC SPCA also legally places lien(s) on property to get their costs.
Animals have no one to speak for them
"Unfortunately, even animal guardians who are successful in any legal forum are burdened with such huge costs that they simply cannot manage to pay the costs required upfront to be paid to the BC SPCA for the return of their animals. The average Tribunal and Court costs easily run in the many thousands of dollars. As a result the BC SPCA keep the animals to either destroy them or sell them to strangers. The BC SPCA benefit from laws that enable them to collect all their costs which includes placing a lien on an animal guardian's property and seizing the animal guardians assets."
The loved ones are left with lasting trauma, depression, deep debt and are forever seperated from their wanted furry family members.
Wanted Seized Animals Have No Rights
There is no fairness for the animal guardian and their poor animals are the biggest victims as they have no say and are cruelly taken from their famillies to be sold or killed by the BC SPCA. The animals are traumatized by the seperation from their loving and caring families for life. There is no thought for them or their longing to be with their loved ones in either the BC animal Legislation or the BC SPCA animal seizure actions.
The animals are treated like a by-product.
Not only are wanted animals taken cruelly from their loved ones, the BC SPCA officers have more power than even an RCMP officer because they actively police human beings and their animals. Wanted animals are treated like by-products in a never-ending abuse of power. "People's homes are searched and the guardians are treated like criminals before the justice system even begins. We are not talking about puppy mills, or people that do the unthinkable, we are talking about ordinary animal guardians whose privacy and animal families are destroyed by these over-zealous 'animal crusaders' with more than ordinary police powers." says Felicia. "The animals are hauled away with no consideration that they might want to stay with their loved ones. It's a sight that no one will easily forget - the fright the animals experience, the despair as they try to return to their beloved guardians, the way they try to fight their captors. The animals are forced against their will to leave their beloveds with a future that ensures their imminent death or re-sale in the majority of animal seizures. Many times because someone didn't like you, or doesn't like your pet - that's how ridiculous the process is. Anonymous ofcourse."
What is guaranteed is that an animal guardian will not ever see their pets again if they can't afford to buy them back from the BC SPCA which can include thousands of dollars of costs because the BC SPCA will fight the animal guardian who appeals legally to keep the animal in almost all of the animal seizures. An animal guardian has to pay all those costs even if the animal is never returned.
Are public donations intended for animal care used against animal guardians?
"You have a very moneyed goliath using public donations obtained with assurances that the funds will be used for the care of animals used to also fight their guardians tooth and nail in the various long processes that animal guardians are subjected to trying to get their pets back while the bills that they have to pay to the BC SPCA increase accordingly. This entire cruel and expensive 'exercise' is ridiculous when the animal guardians want their pets back and almost always ends in the BC SPCA euthanizing or selling the pets to strangers statistically".
BC SPGA
Even if the BC SPCA return the animals they can continue the intrusion into the animal guardian's life with Agreements that include terms that may infringe on privacy laws or charter rights. The lack of oversight is incredible for an organization that polices itself. Even public complaints about animal custody officers conduct are handled internally. The BC SPCA is not subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act either.
The animals have no say.
"I object to granting any organization a legislative monopoly unless there are truly compelling reasons to do so. It is not good for the taxpayers to have no choice, and it is not good for even the best-intentioned organizations to have no competition or possibility of competition in the future."
MLA H. De Long, BC Parliamentary session.
Animal guardians have no rights and no protection over their own pets. The animals have no say. They are used for fundraising purposes and exploited. Stories are either made up or exxagerated to make their guardians seem to be animal abusers to elicit donations.
Embezzlement Of the public's donations for the care of animals?
People's pets are placed in cages for re-sale by the BC SPCA or killed. One thing is certain
and borne out by the BCFIRB statistics, rarely are the animals back home.
The BC SPCA may also have embezzled millions of dollars in donations
from the public claiming that the funds were needed for the care of animals when instead the public donations
received were put into a funding reserve which has grown to over $86 million according to
information gathered by
Charity Canada.
If a corporation had solicited the public for millions of dollars of donations for a specified purpose and
placed those funds into reserves instead on such a large scale by misrepresenting
a need where there was none it is likely the funds would have to be returned back
to the public.
The BC SPCA could use its massive surplus of public donations to
build more humane shelters for post-Covid surrendered animals.
However, last year, the Society had requested and then received
$14 million from the provincial public purse for its shelters.
The BC SPGA hears from major donors that they have removed the BC SPCA from their list. "This suggests that
donors are looking to fund organizations that place animals wellbeing as their priority." says Felicia.
Animals deserve better.
Help to transition animal policing to the Provincial Government
BC SPCA animal policing and animal rescues
The BC SPCA kills more animals than any other organization in British Columbia
The BC SPCA has escalated its animal seizures to no-kill reputable animal rescues and sanctuaries in British Columbia. The reputable non-profit society, Dog Way Rescue in Mission had more than 60 dogs seized from its five acre rescue. Cherry Latour who oversees the rescue told the media that “We don’t make these dogs distressed, ” LaTour said. “They come to us distressed. They come from meat markets in [other countries], they come from brothels, they come from terrible situations where they are beaten.”
The BC SPCA knows that animals are often dropped off to BC's animal rescues in distress or arrive from dire circumstances. However Eileen Drever, who oversees the animal policing officers at the BC SPCA policing section, has seized animals from reputable rescues and sanctuaries such as Dogway Dog Rescue and many others claiming that the animals were in distress or neglected.
This was the tragic fate of Dogway Dog Rescue where Ms. Latour explained, “The dogs are not neglected. It’s not true - we absolutely refute that completely,” LaTour said. “We have worked for months and months with some of these dogs that are distressed and finally they feel safe.” The rescue eventually ended up with a bill of over $70,000.00 after the review and legal processes payable to the BC SPCA.
Eileen Drever Eccles was adamant to the media that "This individual has an opportunity to dispute the seizure," she said. "We will do everything in our power to ensure these animals don't go back." The comment was widely published before any of the appeal proceedings had even begun.
The BC rescues and sanctuaries are being nearly wiped out under BC SPCA's senior animal policing officers Eileen Drever with her husband Sean Eccles and Marcie Moriarity (the lawyer who usually refuses to return the animals). The three employees who routinely confiscate or decided the fate of the smaller rescues animals tend to blame the rescues for the condition of the animals and fine them many thousands of dollars knowing that the good and reputable rescues do not embezzle the public for donations and that the rescues use their donations to help the animals. "When these individuals take on the no-kill rescues in British Columbia they are in fact putting them into debt trying to defend their good work on behalf of animals." says Felicia. "These BC SPCA employees know full well that many animals end up in rescues because of neglect - that's not the rescue's fault. We need a moratorium to protect the remaining rescues and sanctuaries in BC before the BC SPCA attempt to ruin more such as the Warren Peace Bunny Sanctuary who had to close down after an SPCA animal seizure raid, or the Susuki Sanctuary who had their healthy animals seized or the Epona Farm Animal rescue (est 1975) to name a few."
The BC SPCA will sometimes turn the seized animals over to the smaller rescues with no financial support for the animals care leaving the struggling rescues to bear the financial costs of the seized animals depleting their already small budgets. In some instances, the animal police officers will then later seize the same animals in a raid and charge the rescue for 'animal neglect'.
In this way, the BC SPCA make money seizing the animals, save money by not caring for the seized animals and cause the expense to the rescues who can barely subsist on their smaller budgets.
The stigma that comes with a BC SPCA animal seizure on reputable businesses, rescues, sanctuaries and others is never compensated and many suffer from the misuse of power by the SPCA policing section.
Drever almost ruined this case of real cruelty because of "playing to the media". But, as is being shown all over North America, playing to the media to get donations is what "Cruelty Seizures" is really about, not animal welfare. If the seizures were about animal welfare, most animals would not be seized but would be left in their familiar surroundings and improvements enforced through fines. If the seizures were about animal welfare, none of the animals would be summarily killed by the SPCA.
Animal Advocates Society of British Columbia.
If animal policing was transitioned to the provincial government in British Columbia the BC SPCA would have to operate as a Charity and their huge surplus of funds would have to be used to care for the animals, building more humane shelters (not prisons with cement floors where animals suffer in a traumatized state) and it is hoped that funding bodies would be fairer in distributing their grants to the smaller and deserving sanctuaries and rescues with No-kill policies.
Animal Policing should not prey only on animal guardians
The BC SPCA has refused to police processing factories where animals languish in inhumane suffering and lack of care. They cite a lack of resources however with such a huge surplus of over $86+ million of public donations for the care of animals that is difficult to make sense of.
In Ontario the SPCA is no longer responsible for animal policing. This is a win-win situation because the charity can devote all of its financial resources to caring and helping animals. Animal policing is overseen by provincial inspectors who are trained and professional.
When there is governmental action there has to be transparency and accountability unlike with a self-policed, private charity. With the transition of animal policing to the BC government there is an inherent mandate to the public to ensure fairness and transparency. The BC SPGA would like to see the BC SPCA devote its huge surplus of public donations to assisting animal guardians with the care and wellbeing of their wanted pets. In fact, this should be the first and repeated course of action before any animal seizure - ever.
