BC SPCA Animal Seizures

Help!
My pet was seized by the BC SPCA what now?

The reality is that you may never see your beloved furry family member again.

The BC SPCA can do no bad

As a society we have mostly been indoctrinated that the BC SPCA only does good to animals. However, there is a dark side to the organization which kills more animals in British Columbia than any other organization.

What happens to BC SPCA seized animals

In BC SPCA animal seizures, the animals are killed or sold for profit by the BC SPCA if they meet the BC SPCA guidelines. Rarely are the animals returned to their animal guardians and should your pet be returned the costs you have to pay may be too prohibitive. The BC SPCA costs have to be paid in full upfront before the animal is returned. If the BC SPCA's Return Agreement's terms and conditions are not what you can realize then the animal is seized again..

For the seized animals trauma or death awaits them. Some are sold to strangers. Some are returned to their guardians who must pay the BC SPCA costs and abide by any term or condition that the BC SPCA lawyer, Marcie Moriarity, decides. There is no independent committee or authority who oversees any of the process or agreements that animal guardians are forced to sign for the return of their animals. The BC SPCA is not under any legal obligation to return any animal. The animals do not understand why they have been placed in cages, crates, trailers or trucks. They know something isn't 'right' and in time, as the animals mourn and and languish in a kennel or cage away from their loved ones, they will soon despair, be confused, or perhaps even become aggressive in their fright.

What awaits an animal guardian who has had animals seized by the BC SPCA

The animal's guardians have no idea what awaits them when their animal is taken into the BC SPCA custody. The BC SPCA has both the power to police human beings and animals - that's more power than a RCMP police officer. The BC SPCA Special Provincial Constables can press criminal charges at the same time as the animal guardian fights For the return of their animals in a Tribunal or the courts. This means an animal guardian can be criminally charged with imprisonment for up to two years, a fine up to $75,000.00 and other provincial or Supreme court conditions.

The success rates for BC animal guardians for the return of their seized animals by the BC SPCA

As animal guardians desperately struggle to prepare for the fight against the BC SPCA's animals seizure in the Tribunal that hears some of these animal custodies, the animal guardian is not prepared for nor informed that the BC SPCA is successful in keeping their animals to destroy or sell them in over 80% of the Tribunal's hearings. In fact, there have been less than a dozen successful animal guardian claims for the return of their animals in the history of the BC Courts and the Tribunal combined.

What and Who receives their costs in BC Court claims and Tribunal hearings

BC animal guardians are also not aware that the BC SPCA are entitled to be paid their costs whether the animal guardian is successful or not in obtaining the return of their animals in any legal forum. The costs are often in the hundreds to thousands of dollars payable by the animal guardian to the BC SPCA.

"I am one of the animal guardians whom two Supreme court judges on two seperate occasions awarded the return of my animals. The costs that I was ordered to pay the BC SPCA were over $40,000.00 and I was not awarded any of my own costs. I had no idea going into this that if successful I still had to pay the BC SPCA costs (usually the successful party is awarded their costs) When I appealed that aspect to the BC Court of Appeal, I was chastized by the presiding judge in a scathing judgment who wrote, "[27] In an ideal world, animals could be cared for without draining of the resources of organizations such as the SPCA, but such is not reality" in instances where a court found that the animals were wrongfully seized and ordered their return. In any case, BC animal guardians must pay their own costs and the BC SPCA costs no matter what the outcome is and that easily amounts to many thousands of dollars with all of the time that Tribunal and/or court processes can take. Since many of us don't have thousands of dollars to pay and cannot afford such large costs for the return of our animals the BC SPCA has the right to not give the animals back in spite of the Court order to return the animals."
Felicia Allen
Founder, BC SPGA

The BC Court closes Transparency in animal seizure investigations enabling the BC SPCA to kill a seized animal to bypass the review provision of the law

In a recent BC Supreme court hearing held in the BC Supreme court on October 9, 2024, the presiding judge, Mr. Justice Ross, ruled that if the BC SPCA kills the seized animal there is no review of the animal seizure or investigation required even though the BC Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals Act maintains that a review must be done if requested by an animal guardian. The outcome of the ruling means that the BC SPCA does not have to be transparent or accountable for its actions or conduct in animal seizures where the animal is killed by a BC SPCA hired veterinarian. In those circumstances, an animal guardian would have to sue the BC SPCA in a court for alleged wrongdoing to find out the investigation information because a Tribunal do not consider situations where the BC SPCA has killed a seized animal.

Senior management within the BC SPCA has repeatedly stated that they are not required to provide responses under the Freedom Of Information and Privacy Protection Act (FOIPPA) as it relates to cruelty investigations as they are not a government body. Due to the nature of the BC SPCA as a non-profit organization, the lack of oversight and accountability as it relates to their enforcement role is not in the interests of BC's animal guardians and their pets.

How the BC SPCA collects its costs

The BC SPCA can legally place a lien on the animal guardian's property and most assets (car, boat, etc) to ensure that they are paid their costs.

What costs must the animal guardian pay for the return of a seized animal

Throughout the fight for the return of their animals in any legal forum the animal guardian must pay their own legal costs or be self-represented and all of the BC SPCA costs.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Timothy Minnema ruled the provincial government was wrong to grant police powers to the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) without also imposing reasonable standards of transparency and accountability, and called it a breach of Bogaerts's Charter rights."
...

"Although charged with law enforcement responsibilities, the 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 wrote in a decision released Wednesday.

Minnema said the OSPCA appears to be an organization that fulfils public functions without being held accountable like other police organizations that have to comply with the Police Services Act, the Ombudsman Act and freedom-of-information laws.

The judge also said he doesn't see how the relevant sections of the OSPCA Act could be easily modified to make them 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 the act might have to be re-written from scratch.
Excerpts from the Article, "Judge finds OSPCA enforcement powers to be unconstitutional" The Canadian Press · Posted: Jan 03, 2019 8:09 AM PST | Last Updated: January 4, 2019

BC SPGA the Voice for BC animal guardians

The BC SPGA recognizes that British Columbia animal guardians have no rights or protection in BC SPCA animal seizures. The BC Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals Act was written for the BC SPCA. In instances where an animal guardian has a treating veterinarian for a sick or injured pet, the BC SPCA hire their own veterinarian(s) to act in the Society's interest. This can result in the animal being destroyed by the BC SPCA vet and the BC SPCA knows that the animal guardian will have no recourse under the BC Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals Act. Dr. Jane Pritchard is a member of the BC animal custody Tribunal's Board Of Directors (BC Farm Industry Review Board) and the President of the College of Veterinarians of BC council. BC SPGA has written Dr. Pritchard for her view on private practising veterinarians in BC and the BC SPCA's practice of hiring their own veterinarians to seize and destroy an animal. Dr. Pritchard has not replied and it is not known whether she supports BC veterinarians in private practice.

The BC SPGA believes that wanted animals should stay with their loved ones. BC SPCA animal policing is better suited to provincial, professionally trained inspectors as in Ontario where the SPCA no longer conducts animal police investigations.

Join our Animal Reform Policing campaign and sign our petition for invoking a BC Animal Guardian Act with protections and rights for our animal guardians and their pets.