Eight year old Mandi longs to be with Maple

Heartfelt Appeal for Reunification: Eight-Year-Old Mandi Longs for Her Beloved Dog, Maple

The Enduring Trauma: Help Mandi to have closure with her loss of Maple

Imagine a little girl hugging her special companion dog tight, tears streaming down her face as strangers take him away. That was the fate of Mandi, a young eight year old autistic child who had her special companion dog, Maple, seized in a BC SPCA raid.

About two months ago, a harrowing incident occurred when Maple was taken by a BC SPCA constable from Mandi's arms leaving the young girl devastated. On that day, Mandi pleaded that Maple not go but despite their unbreakable bond the circumstances forced Mandi to let her dog go.

Katherine Lochhead, Mandi’s mother described how they had to deal with the BC SPCA taking their daughter’s healthy dog, “Sure that we would work things out later, and under great pressure from police, Mandi's papa convinced her to let her dog go. We assured her that Maple would come back to her. Unsure why they were even removing dogs at all, we consoled Mandi by telling her that no human would ever keep a bonded pet from returning to its child. Maple was happy, healthy, strong, and loved.”

Help Mandi with re-unification with Maple

Katherine describes her daughter's torment after Maple was removed, “For two months, every single morning Mandi would wake up and cry, she had dreamt of her dog and dreamt that she had been returned.”

A BC SPGA spokesperson said, "It is always tragic when children get caught in the crossfire between their pets and the actions of the BC SPCA seizures. Little Mandi deserves closure to circumstances which resulted in the permanent loss of her special companion, Maple, whom we are told has been rehomed by the BC SPCA."

Marcie Moriarity, BC SPCA chief of enforcement, mmoriarty@spca.bc.ca and BC SPCA Eileen Drever, Senior officer of animal enforcement, edrever@spca.bc.ca were not available for comment.

Katherine hopes for her daughter’s sake that at the very least, “Mandi couldn't quite believe it, she still can't accept it fully. She believes that the person who has Maple would want her to see her dog again. She can't understand why any human would think any different. She's an 8 year old girl who only wants to see her dog again, even just once, to make sure that Maple knows that she still loves her, she never stopped loving her, so that Maple doesn't think she just gave her away.”