THE
MATERI SEIZURE: MAY 2003:
One
donkey, 7 horses, 63 dogs and 24 puppies
The
PCA Act
says
healthy animals must not be seized and even sick animals can be left
onsite and improvements made to the care and site. Leaving
animals onsite is often far more humane than moving them.
If animals are
seized, "seizure costs" can be demanded by the SPCA.
Most of the photos
were taken by the SPCA at the time of its seizure.
See SPCA's own video footage made during the
seizure
Return to SPCA seizures home page
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These healthy, well looked-after animals, and
the ones in the photos below, were seized by the BC SPCA on the grounds
that they were in "distress" (without food, water, or shelter; abused or
neglected; or in pain or suffering). They were kept in SPCA cells until
they were sold. The horses, the
donkey and some of the dogs had been rescued from abuse and
neglect by Gail and Alan and were pets. |
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Alan Materi was convicted of cruelty to animals
and he and Gail lost everything, their home, their animals, their
physical and mental health, and the ability to face their friends and
neighbours after being branded animal-abusers by the SPCA, which the media
repeated. In the words of ex-SPCA inspector Teresa Bowman, "It
is paramount that the SPCA work with the public and not come like
thieves in the night. This is a blatant disregard for people and an
unfortunate misuse of authority."
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Horse with halter scars
(enlarge thumbnail) |
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Statement written by
Teresa Bowman, ex-volunteer SPCA inspector for Penticton, who happened
to see the seizure being carried out while both Gail and Alan were away
for the day. Gail and Alan's lawyer did not call Teresa Bowman as a
witness and did not show her statement to the court.
The Heritage Law
Group
Marty Johnson
Barrister and Solicitor
830 Bernard Ave
Kelowna, B.C.
V1Y 6P5
June 13, 2003
My name is Teresa
Bowman, and I have been an acquaintance of Allen and Gail Materi for
approximately ten years.
My background in
animals comes from being raised in a family that imported exotic animals
for a living. My father also founded the Herpetological Society of
British Columbia in the 1970’s.
I worked in the
family business and also for Dr. Glen Slimmer at the cancer research
centre at UBC tending to the animals. I have volunteered at the SPCA
since the 1970’s and in the 1980’s was part of the team that started the
first dog walk program for the SPCA.
I became involved
with the SPCA in the Princeton area during the 1990’s and worked closely
with Constable Gill Gosslin RCMP/Special Investigator, SPCA. I went out
to many homes and ranches where there were complaints of cruelty to
animals, with either Gill or Mr. Bob Ogden, manager of the SPCA
Penticton.
I spent many hours
volunteering my time and knowledge to aid the animals of the Princeton
area, caring for and treating seized animals at my home.
When I noticed
that the Materi’s were starting a breeding operation at their home, I
just naturally wanted to find out how they were running it. I always
found the animals in good health or if there was a problem that it was
being treated post haste.
Sometimes people
would drop off dogs to Mr. Materi, and at his own expense he would treat
the animals. On several occasions Mr. Bob Ogden and I would talk about
the operation at the Materi home, with Bob going out to check up from
time to time. Also there was a time once when Bob said that if it was
possible for Allen to foster dogs for the SPCA.
To get to the day
of May 29th, 2003, I witnessed an unspeakable act of animal cruelty by
the SPCA. Dogs were running for their lives, being chased by every sort
of person -- this was so unprofessional as it required noting. By a rule
Allen allows his dogs lots freedom and are not just bred and bred, but
are actual pets that respond to the love and attention that Allen shows
them.
I returned home
and got my husband to drive me over there because I did not want to
approach these individuals on my own. I was denied access to the Materi
property by the SPCA. It appeared that they were getting ready to leave
and I questioned a SPCA guy at the front why the animals were being
seized, and also noted that two sheep and four dogs were allowed to
remain on site. The rationale behind this is that if the animals were so
distressed that they had to be removed or they would surely die, then
they are responsible to take all animals to ensure their health and
welfare, or are negligent as to the same charges that they file against
Mr. Materi.
Any time that animals are transported it adds
undue stress to the animals. The SPCA guy stated that the reason for the
seizure was that the animals were in distress, further stating that
there was inadequate food, water and shelter for these dogs, and that
the owner had not shown up all day.
I
left him my name and phone number and also told him I had put the horses
in the pasture just the previous week. It should be noted that this is a
class “C” highway and drivers should be alert to wildlife and farm
animals on the road. I’ve personally put just about everyone’s animals
on the 5 Mile (Road) back into
their pastures at one time or the other.
Due to
longstanding injuries I was unable to do a walk through of the property
with my camera until the following morning, but I did check before I
left that there was food and also knew that Allen would more than likely
be home soon.
At approximately
9:30 am on Friday the 30th of May, I did a walk through of the house and
property with my camera.
House: The house
was sparsely furnished. There were seven 2 x 3 foot carry cages in the
nursery, two large water containers c/w bowls and two large trays of
food.
It should be noted
that the doors to these pens always stand open so the moms are able to
enter and return at will to their young. The floor was incredibly clean
for the amount of dogs that were there. I noted that the shaver heads
for grooming were soaking in alcohol and there were freshly laundered
mats and towels stored above one crate. All enclosures were clean except
for a dropping in one cage.
The house appears
to be undergoing renovations, tools and about a thousand dollars worth
of new flooring were piled neatly in one corner. This in no way
jeopardized the safety of the dogs or puppies.
One large nursery
approximately 4 x 4 feet was in one corner of the kitchen, containing
food and fresh water, two teddy bears and a small rug and one small
dropping.
There was a tray
of food and plenty of fresh water in the living room. One small bedroom
which had obviously been turned into a nursery contained fresh water,
food, mats and toys.
The temperature of
all rooms was comfortable with plenty of fresh air.
I
opened the fridge as that is where most medicine is stored so as not to
spoil. Noting that it contained Panacur 10%, Strongid (a dewormer for
livestock and dogs), Surolan antifungal, topical antibacterials, Corium
20 ear solution (cleans and soothes ears), Ivomec (antibacterial).
The kitchen and
storeroom housed container after container of bleach, Pinesol, and
disinfecting soap.
On to the outside:
All enclosures had dog houses or huts. There were two farm tractors for
hauling various tools and for dropping removal. All pens were clean, the
ground was spotless in the pens, some even had grass! Grass will not
grow in filth.
There were two
roto-tillers for turning the paddocks that were dirt and were functional
– I checked. Huge garbage cans stood in each paddock full of dry dog
food, large pools and containers full
of clean water, bowls of dry dog
chow with lots of food.
The dog houses
were raised above the ground to keep the chill out and for the comfort
and safety of the dogs and were large enough to allow indoor play during
the winter season.
The fields were a
rich green and approximately two tons of hay was stored. The back
trailer (green) housed 21 bags of dry dog food, the freezer had about
two 5-gallon buckets of grain for the lambs and was stored properly so
no fecal matter from rodents could contaminate it.
New paddocks were
constructed as soon as the snow was gone, as I saw them working on them
myself. I also noted about two hundred cans of wet dog food.
It is my
understanding that the SPCA was at the residence on the 24th
of May towards the evening and that no concerns were voiced at that time
regarding these dogs. It is my belief that the SPCA should be working
with breeders and kennels for the safety of animals.
Had the SPCA
voiced any concern, Mr. Materi would have called in a vet to certify the
dogs at his home rather than have these animals put through this ordeal.
On the 30th of
May, I caught two of the four dogs and hand fed the two sheep, as Mr.
Materi was incredibly upset and unable to care for himself. The two dogs
were extremely traumatized and took no food or water for two days. I
know this because I looked after them myself.
This is a large
facility that is well kept. The horses and ponies were a recent addition
to the farm. In spite of the weather, it snowed and had low minus
temperatures up to and including the long weekend of May, the dogs were
in very good condition.
It is paramount
that the SPCA work with the public and not come like thieves in the
night. This is a blatant disregard for people and an unfortunate misuse
of authority.
Should you
require any more information, I can be reached at (number removed).
I have a lot of information but just wanted to cover the basics.
Teresa Bowman
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Gail Collingwood and
Alan Materi tell their story...
July 25, 2006
Gail Collingwood
Alan Materi
Kelowna, BC
To whom it may concern,
Re: Seizure of our healthy dogs,
horses, and donkey: May 29, 2003 by the BC SPCA
My name is Gail Collingwood and my
husband’s name is Alan Materi. In 2003, we resided on our property at
2306 Princeton-Summerland Road, Princeton BC.
My husband and I had rescued many
abused and neglected dogs and other animals for years out of compassion
– even paying for them to get them away from abusers - before we
started to breed dogs for a living in 1994. The Penticton SPCA
manager, Bob Ogden, asked us if we would foster large animals for them
so they clearly approved of us.
The Penticton SPCA was complained to
about us three times only, but that was by the same person each time and
after the third complaint, Mr Ogden told the complainant that he would
have them charged with harassment because when they came to investigate
they always found that the complaint was unwarranted. In fact, Mr Ogden
told my husband and I that the dogs looked very well looked after. He
was impressed that the dogs would all wag their tails and were
well-socialized.
Penticton SPCA volunteer inspector,
Teresa Bowman, came with Mr Ogden once but she also came to our place
several times just because she loved animals and liked to visit, and she
always impressed with our facility too - how clean it was, how
well-looked after all the animals were, all the medications etc.
Nothing about our breeding operation
changed substantially, but the SPCA did. In 2002 it hired Craig Daniell
away from the Ontario SPCA to start to make grandstanding seizures that
attracted a lot of media attention. It seems that we were targeted as a
breeder that would make headlines and whose dogs were highly desirable
breeds and very healthy too so they would be easy for the SPCA to sell.
On the evening of May 22nd
at 8:30 p.m., while I was out and my husband was entertaining friends,
Constables Brad Kuich and Kathy Woodward came. They told my husband
that they wanted to do an inspection. It was almost dark but he showed
them the food and the hay, but he did not allow them to upset the dogs
by going into the kennels.
They kept insisting and finally my
husband told them to go away, using strong language. They didn’t tell
Alan that there was anything wrong, they didn’t say that they would come
back, and they didn’t give us a written Offence Warning Notice as the
PCA Act requires.
I have the telephone records to
prove that we were home all that week and the SPCA did not call us
once.
The day of the seizure, May 29th,
while my husband and I were out of town, the SPCA, RCMP, and the vet, Dr
Teresa Jacobson, came and seized all our animals, except a few loose
dogs that they couldn’t catch and the two sheep (both of them were
rescued from neglect too).
The SPCA took our healthy,
beautifully groomed, well-fed, well-vetted, well-housed animals and
stuffed the dogs into crates in the heat for approximately seven hours.
None of our animals were ever caged before. And then they took them and
put them in miserable concrete cells at the Kelowna SPCA, and milked
this for all it was worth in the media. They made monsters of cruelty of
us in our community. We have never been cruel to any animal. We did not
deserve to have our animals stolen from us, to be vilified by the SPCA
and the media, to be financially and emotionally ruined. We are not
criminals or even bad people. We were just easy prey for the SPCA.
We could barely afford a lawyer to
defend ourselves and weren’t able to find one in time to prevent the
SPCA from selling all our animals.
We did eventually find a lawyer, but
for reasons that are now the subject of a Law Society investigation, he
did not defend us. He did not show the video the SPCA made while it was
seizing our animals (neither did the SPCA as it showed nothing but
healthy groomed animals, lots of clean water, food and shelter). We
obtained this video as a result of the bankruptcy proceeding started by
the SPCA to get our property, which they were successful in doing and
which ruined us. The SPCA showed the video to the bankruptcy officer to
show what our property was worth, who gave it to us. The bankruptcy
officer told me that she was shocked when she viewed the video because
there was nothing wrong with any of the animals. On this video there is
the sound of a gunshot and we still do not know which of our pets the
RCMP shot on the orders of the SPCA or their vet.
Our lawyer did not cross examine the
vet even though we had given him all the proof that her testimony was
false. He did not call Teresa Bowman or even submit her letter, though
Teresa was willing to testify. He did not call our ferrier or submit
his letter. We had five years of vet records and recent bills for $1500
in medications. He did not submit one document. He did not even call me
or my husband to testify. He allowed the SPCA to walk over us with
barely a word raised in our defense.
My husband was convicted under the
Criminal Code and sentenced to six months house arrest and forbidden to
ever own an animal again. I was not charged, nevertheless the judge
said that I was only allowed to own two animals; strange that I was
given a sentence without being charged with anything.
My husband was so shamed, so angry
at the miscarriage of justice that the SPCA got away with, so sad to
have no animals that he loved so much, that he became suicidal and is
still not normal. He is reclusive and depressed and he will never be
the same again. A cheerful, productive man, who far from being
criminally cruel to animals, loved animals and saved so many of them
from suffering - at his own expense. My husband is not a murdered or a
rapist. He is not a threat to society, yet he was treated like one by
the SPCA and the courts and by the terrible power and misuse of the PCA
Act. He is severely medicated, rarely leaves the trailer, and talks
about suicide. My health declined severely and I too am being treated
for depression.
We were financially ruined and could
not even afford the $1,200 the court system demanded for our transcript
so that we could try to appeal.
The SPCA seized all our animals, our
livelihood, worth $50,000. Because of this we were forced into
bankruptcy. Our $250,000 property was sold for $78,000. Between our
mortgage, our legal fees, and our daily bills, not a penny was left and
we were forced onto social assistance.
I believe that the SPCA arrogantly
went on making seizures without giving Offence Warning Notices, that it
is still demanding money for owners or their animals will be sold or
killed, still falsely accusing people of cruelty, still abusing the
power of the seriously flawed PCA Act. For the sake of the human and
animal victims to come, I beg you to read the attached material and to
investigate the SPCA’s abuse of power and to change the PCA Act so that
the SPCA cannot continue its police-state tactics.
Gail Collingwood
Alan Materi
Kelowna, BC
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REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
(Gail Collingwood's comment in blue)
Citation:R. v. Materi - Excerpt Reasons for JudgmentDate:2005 02 08
2005 BCPC 0085 File No:31919-1
Registry:Penticton
IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Criminal Division
REGINA
v.
ALLAN MATERI
EXCERPT FROM PROCEEDINGS
ORAL REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
OF THE
HONOURABLE JUDGE G. G. SINCLAIR
Counsel for the Crown:V. M. Frolick
Counsel for the Accused:J. F. Murray
Place of Hearing:Penticton, B.C.
Date of Hearing:February 8, 2005
Date of Judgment:February 8, 2005
[1] THE COURT: As stated in my earlier ruling, Mr. Materi is charged
with
three counts respectively under 446(1)(a) of the Criminal Code,
446(1)(c) of
the Criminal Code and 24(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
I
am now called upon to decide whether the Crown has proven any or all of
those counts beyond a reasonable doubt.
[2] Count 1 specifically charges Mr. Materi with wilfully permitting to
be
caused unnecessary pain, suffering and injury to numerous animals.
446(1)(a)
reads as follows:
(1) Every one commits an offence who
(a) wilfully causes or, being the owner, wilfully permits to be caused
unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal or a bird.
Subsection (3) helps with the degree of mens rea or intent required,
because
it tells me this:
For the purposes of proceedings under paragraph (1)(a) or (b), evidence
that
a person failed to exercise reasonable care or supervision of an animal
or a
bird thereby causing it pain, suffering, damage or injury is, in the
absence
of any evidence to the contrary, proof that the pain, suffering, damage
or
injury was caused or was permitted to be caused wilfully or was caused
by
wilful neglect, as the case may be.
[3] Count 2 is a charge under 446(1)(c), that is having custody or
control
of numerous dogs, horses and other domestic animals did fail to provide
suitable and adequate food, water, shelter and care for them.
[4] And Count 3 under Section 24 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Act
is a charge of causing or permitting animals to be in distress or to
continue to be in distress. With regard to that count, Section 1 of the
Act
provides a definition of distress. Section 1(2) reads as follows:
For the purposes of this Act, an animal is in distress if it is
(a) deprived of adequate food, water or shelter,
(b) injured, sick, in pain or suffering, or
(c) abused or neglected.
[5] Now, for purposes of my decision at this stage, I need only refer in
any
great detail -- I have reviewed all of the evidence yesterday and again
today while doing my earlier decision on the warrant, but I refer in
detail
only to the evidence of Dr. (Teresa) Jacobson,
(Dr
Jacobson is the vet who attended the
Schwab seizure
and the
Douglas seizure)
the veterinarian who attended at the
premises on the 29th of May 2003, and I am not going to refer to all of
it,
but I am going to summarize it.
[6] She attended, as I say, on the 29th of May 2003. With regard to the
horses briefly, she saw hay but she says not a lot of it. (7
tons were beside a house trailer.) The
pasture was cropped down closely. It was (May,
too early in the year for pasturage to have grown, so they were being
fed hay.)
The donkey had injuries on its knees, indicating to her that it had been
kneeling down, trying to get its head under a fence to
get food from the other side of that fence.
(Amos
the
donkey had scarred knees when bought him in November from Keremeos where
he had been neglected.)
The donkey was the only animal that had an adequate body condition
score, of the equine animals. She saw a
lack of shelter. She said equines need not elaborate shelter, but they
do need shelter so they can get out of rain, wind, sun and other
elements.
Equines become stressed if out in the elements all day. Their immune
systems
become stressed, specifically. (The
SPCA saw the lumber and the partially-built new horse shelter. They
photographed it. Also new paddocks and runs were being built. All they
had to do was tell Alan Materi to have it completed by a certain date.)
It was her opinion that there was not enough pasture and/or hay present
for the equines, and it was her opinion given the
equines that there had not been adequate food for some time. There was,
in
her opinion, an absence of shelter.
[7] She went through the various equine animals, and I am not going to
summarize them all, but
horse number 1,
for example, she gave a body
condition score of 2 of 9. The doctor in Kamloops
was somewhat higher but
she said the horse was thin. It was a nine year old thoroughbred mare.
(When Alan’s friend died, Alan took the horse because the widow was not
feeding it properly. Winter is a hard time for horses to thrive
but by the seizure in May, the horse's condition had noticeably
improved. All the equines were dewormed about two weeks before the
seizure.)
The ribs were visible. Pelvis, hips and shoulders were visible. She
termed it as
being severely emaciated, about three hundred pounds underweight. Left
front
foot was atrophied, which in her opinion would take a couple of months
to
develop. There was a fracture or joint injury, she thought, with regard
to
the leg, and a problem was the pain had not been treated. The right
front
foot was splayed, due to the horse putting most of its body weight on
the
right foot rather than the injured left one. She recommended the horse
be
euthanized, because she said the pain and distress were great and the
body
condition score was too light.
[8] Horse
number 2
was emaciated. She said it looked as if it was starving,
looked like a bag of bones with skin overtop of the bones. It weighed
six to
seven hundred pounds instead of a thousand pounds, had enlarged hocks,
inflammation going on in there required treatment.
[9] Horse number 3, bad hooves needed to be repaired. No hoof care for
several months, she estimated probably up to nine months. Walked
awkwardly
and would go lame if the hooves were not trimmed. Painful condition that
is,
apparently.
[10] Horse
number 4
had halter injuries from a halter growing into its skin.
That would be very painful, she said. The owner was obviously not paying
attention or was cruel and did not care. She said it would take months
for
skin to grow around a halter like she saw with horse number 4.
(Gail
told us that Alan bought this horse in November 2002 [See photo above]
because it was so badly neglected. The seizure was in May 2003.
The enlarged photo clearly shows old scars, not fresh raw scars that
would have been the case if Alan and Gail had caused them. The
horse was one of a group that spent years of very public neglect in a
corral right on Highway 97 between Penticton and Princeton. Not
only was the SPCA frequently complained to about these horses, but I
could hardly have missed seeing them as it drove between the two
cities.)
[11] On and on it goes with regard to the horses. It was her opinion
that
all equines should be removed. She said they had inadequate food, water,
shelter, veterinarian care and farrier care.
(Stan
Smith, well-known farrier, wrote a letter saying he was Alan's regular
farrier and was slowly working on the overgrown hooves.)
[12] With regard to the dogs, generally, there were eighty-seven of
them.
She said the density in the enclosures was very high.
(Video
shows low density.)
She said dogs need
space for territory, to urinate, to defecate and to eat and drink, all
of
those in separate spots. Dogs do not like urine or feces where they eat
and
sleep. If they do that in someone else's territory, there are fights. (Alan
was outside almost constantly, dogs were not allowed to fight. All the
dogs were allowed in the family home in turn and as can be seen on the
video were socialized to each other and to humans.)
Stressors become high. Yeast infections were high.
She said sixty-five
to
seventy per cent of these dogs had yeast infections in their ears.
Some dogs
did not want their ears touched, they were in such pain. That condition,
if
not treated, can produce deafness. It was affecting the hearing of some
of
these dogs.
(In
the SPCA’s own video, not one dog is scratching its ears. When dogs’
ears are infected to the degree that Jacobson claims, they scratch and
shake their heads frequently, almost continuously. No lab test results
were produced to support these claims.) She
saw feces in the kennels. In general, she found no place not
contaminated by feces or urine.
(The
SPCA’s own video showed not one piece of feces.)
She saw evidence of fighting as a result of the stresses that she
recognized and indicated.
(The
video shows well-socialized dogs wagging their tails and not one injury.
Why are there no photos of the injuries Jacobson claims?)
She said that the
puppies were loaded with worms, which is a problem when there is feces
about,
because there are worms in the feces and they get into the dogs, eat the
food inside the dogs, causing anemia.
(No lab
results were given as evidence but SPCA photos show deworming
medications on hand.)
Small breed dogs are less resistant than bigger dogs to parasites, she
said, and she then talked more about
aggression being an issue in overcrowding.
(The
video showed no dog on dog aggression. During times of extreme distress,
such as that caused by an SPCA seizure where uniformed strangers hauled
hiding dogs out of their kennels, grabbing and stuffing them into tiny
crates, dog aggression escalates hugely. If there was dog on dog
aggression, why didn’t the SPCA video tape it?)
[13] In a house or in a mobile home were bitches and twenty-four
puppies.
(Every
puppy had been shampooed just the day before. All were shaved down.)
She said when she went in, the bitches grabbed at her leg. They
exhibited
open wounds from fighting with each other, because she said dogs will
kill
each other's pups.
(The
SPCA’s own video shows little dogs who were normally agitated at
strangers walking around their house. Where are the photos of the open
wounds?) They
look after their own pups only. The dogs in the house were very thin.
(The
video doesn’t show any thin dogs.) Some
had distended abdomens, which indicated parasites.
(The
SPCA’s video shows one dog has distended abdomen because she is
pregnant. The SPCA photographed bottles of Panacur and Strongid
deworming medications. The SPCA provided no lab results of fecal
examinations proving parasites. Alan and Gail say they had vet receipts for $800
the month before for $800 spent on very expensive Surolan (for bacteria
or yeast in ears), Ivomec for a variety of parasites (used as a
preventative on a regular basis for Septra for coccidia. Also on hand
were Fucidin ointment, metonighyzol, broad spectrum antibiotic, cornium
ear cleaner.)
Her opinion was that that was a result of how the dogs were being fed,
i.e.
all dogs were competing for what food there was that was provided to
them.
She found evidence of larger dogs breeding little ones which is, she
said,
and would appear obvious, very uncomfortable for the little one.
(Dr
Jacobson said she saw a golden trying to breed to a shih-tzu, Gail says
that they did not ever keep the three goldens in with the little dogs,
and no one in their right mind would breed a golden with a shih-tzu.
The pregnancy would almost certainly fail and perhaps the shih-tzu would
die. No photo of this was shown in court.)
[14] She said that the shelter was inadequate. Two golden retrievers,
she
mentioned specifically, had to crawl under a ten inch high trailer to
get
out of the sun.
(The
dogs had access to the interior of the trailers. Gail believes that the
terrified dogs probably hid under the trailer.)
She said the water was not suitable. Dogs were running in
and out to cool themselves.
(Alan
and Gail filled the pools every day and the dogs had a wonderful time in
them. Gail says shih-tzu’s especially love water.)
They had feces matted on them, and obviously health issues would arise
there. (No
photos of this were shown to the court.)
She said dogs do not drink enough water if it is contaminated.
(No vet records that show dehydration were shown to the court.)
Food she found to be mixed with feces and urine.
(No
photos of this were shown to the court.)
She said that this situation fell far short in terms of food, water,
shelter, environment. (The
way the Alan and Gail kept their dogs is starkly superior to the SPCA’s
own dark, bare, depressing cells and to the breeding facilities that the
SPCA tries to force on dog breeders: concrete kennel runs with dogs
isolated their whole lives, like a business production line.)
[15] She went through each and every dog that was there. I do not intend
to
do that, but a large number of them, as she said, had yeast infections
in
their ears. A number of them had periodontal disease.
(Many
of the dogs had been rescued over the years by Alan and Gail, from
abusive situations. All were taken to the vet and some had few teeth,
so they were fed softened food.)
Others had injuries
that needed treatment and had not been treated, for example,
ulcers in the
eye or other injuries from trauma.
(Gail
and Alan had vet records for operations on eyes, being taken care of.)
On and on it went with almost each and
every dog.
[16] I do not know -- she says she found in the house medicine and
de-wormer
but most were full or nearly full, and she says today they had expired,
which means maybe defective, maybe not, but it would appear that little
if
any of those medicines had been utilized.
(Gail
and Alan bought medicines in bulk and decanted them into old bottles so
that they could be placed in handy locations. These bottles had old
labels on them, but fresh medicine inside.)
She was overwhelmed by the number
of dogs and the lack of necessities for them.
(The
SPCAs own photographic evidence, not shown to the court, shows that all
the necessities were provided, plus enrichment in the form of water
play, socialization, free running in large pens, and choice of
companions and where to sleep.)
[17] I do not know how long the horses were in the condition they were
in,
with the exception of those specific couple of things I have mentioned
that
the doctor said would have taken months to develop, nor do I know how
long
specifically Mr. Materi had the horses and the donkey, but I am
satisfied
that their care was woefully lacking.
[18] As for the puppies and the dogs, the evidence satisfies me beyond a
reasonable doubt that what was going on here was short and sweet, plain
and
simple, a puppy mill, and they were not being taken care of. And they
did
not even come up to minimal standards. So, long and the short, without
trying to go on and on, I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, beyond
any
doubt, that all three counts have been established and proven.
(EXCERPT CONCLUDED)
AAS
comment: Alan Materi was the only one charged; Gail was not charged.
Alan was convicted and sentenced to six months house arrest and not
allowed to own any animals for the rest of his life. Gail and Alan could
not afford the almost $4000 that the court demanded for transcripts of
the trial in order for them to appeal. The above document is only the
judge’s reasons for judgment and is very brief. The video does not show
one dog with a swollen belly except a pregnant dog. It does not show
one dog scratching it ears, yet Dr Jacobson said most had severely
infected ears. Every dog is clean and groomed, yet Dr Jacobson said
they were matted with feces.
The Materis had many recent vet bills showing the purchase of
medications, and the fridge was full of fresh medications. They did
what many people did: they daily decanted medicines from large
containers into small containers to take to any dogs or animals that
needed
medicating. It was the small containers that were empty – of course.
Jacobson told the court that she thought the Materis may have been
buying medicine on the “black market”. This is speculation with no
foundation in fact.
As for
the alleged “emaciation” of the horses - the SPCA always claims that.
The SPCA always claims that hooves are overgrown, but the Materis had
bought the one horse with long hooves from a bad situation and were in
the process of slowly trimming them back. Hooves cannot just be chopped
off.
All the
Materi’s rescued animals always thrived under their care, unlike at the
SPCA where many animals sicken and decline or are killed.
Gail
and Alan were represented by a lawyer who did not show the video even
though he had a copy and did not call ex-SPCA volunteer inspector Teresa
Bowman as a witness or any of the other many people who would have told
the court a different story, nor did he cross examine the vet, Teresa
Jacobson. The Materis say they paid him $3000 but they appear to
have got little for
their money.
The SPCA
did not show the court the photos or video it took of the seizure (nor
did Gail and Alan's lawyer); but to show the value of Gail and Alan's
property, it did show them at the bankruptcy proceedings that were held
to satisfy the SPCA's demands for seizure costs of $48,000.
Alan
hasn’t been able to get over being publicly branded an animal abuser and
is being treated for severe depression and is on suicide watch and Gail is in and out of hospital almost constantly.
Both are being treated for depression. Alan and Gail used to be
productive members of society and now they are penniless, supported by
taxpayers, they still cannot hold their heads up in front of the public,
live in shame and anger and are powerless. Does this punishment fit the
crime? And what was the crime? Was it using coarse language to the
SPCA inspector who came at 8:00 at night to “inspect”, who then came
back and seized all Alan’s animals?
Ferrier Stan Smith
12:37 pm
3/14/2004
My name is Stan Smith, I have been Allan Materi's ferrier
whenever he owned horses for the past
several years. I have many
clients so I am a professional in my field. Allan had purchased seven
horses and one donkey between late September / 02 and late November
/ 02 . At Allan’s request I came out on December / 02 I did all
the animals hoofs . I was unable to
do a complete 100 % job as when Allan
purchased these animals the hoofs of
four of the horses had been
clearly neglected and improperly cared for by the previous owners .
Taking note that especially the race horses hoofs were extremely
bad. I asked him why he had
purchased this particular horse as it was
thin and had exceptionally bad hoofs,
also I asked about the others. He said the race horse had been his
friend’s who had passed away several months before. Allan’s friend’s widow was going to sell it for dog
food, he knew what terrible shape it was in but had made a
promise to his friend before he passed away that he would
keep it. His friend’s widow had neglected the horse. It was very thin
and had very bad hoofs. He said he knew that the four of the horses
weren't in the
greatest shape when purchased but it would have
bothered him to
leave them with the previous owners. He said if he had
never seen
these horses he would never have known their condition but he had
seen them so he couldn't leave them.
I did note that Allan had about
ten tons of hay. Allan told me he
would call m and let me know when
I could come out again to continue
the process to get the hoofs in
good shape. This wouldn't happen overnight as it is a slow process. Allan
asked me to come out May 9/03 but I was very busy and hadn't
gotten to his place yet . By the time
I was able to do the animals the S.P.C.A.
had taken them.
Judge orders house arrest and
lifetime ban on owning animals in BC's largest puppy mill seizure
February 10, 2005. For immediate
release. A judge has sentenced Princeton resident Allan Materi
to six months of house arrest as well as a lifetime ban on owning
animals in what is believed to be the SPCA's largest seizure of
puppy mill dogs in BC. Materi was convicted on February 8th of one
count of animal cruelty under the Criminal Code of Canada and one
count of causing distress to animals under the BC Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals Act.
On May 29, 2003, BC SPCA animal
protection officers seized 87 dogs, seven horses, and one donkey
from Materi's custody. Twenty-four of the 87 dogs removed from the
property were puppies, and pregnant females rescued from the
property gave birth to an additional 31 puppies while in the custody
of the SPCA. Among the breeds of dogs rescued from the property were
golden retrievers, basset hounds, pugs, miniature pinschers,
Chihuahuas, Dachshunds, Yorkshire terriers, and Shih Tzu's.
"We are extremely pleased to see the
courts taking this kind of offence seriously," says Marcie Moriarty,
General Manager of Cruelty Investigations for the BC SPCA. "We have
to make it clear to those who profit from the pain and suffering of
animals in puppy mills that there are consequences to their
actions." She adds that the BC SPCA also urges people to be wary of
purchasing puppies through the Internet, newspaper ads and pet
stores who cannot provide full documentation about their animals.
"The SPCA works hard to shut down puppy mills, but as long as there
is a market for puppy mill dogs, unscrupulous breeders will continue
to operate." The BC SPCA has rescued more than a thousand abused and
emaciated dogs from puppy mills in recent years, but suspects there
are at least a hundred puppy mills still operating in BC.
Special Provincial Constable Kathy
Woodward, one of the lead animal protection officers in the Materi
seizure, says the dogs were suffering from a wide range of medical
problems, including broken and fractured limbs, and serious ear and
eye infections. "Many of the dogs needed intensive rehabilitation
for behavioural problems stemming from their conditions as well as
on-going medical treatment," says Woodward.
The SPCA has since found new loving
homes for 117 dogs either removed from the property or who were born
following the seizure. Homes were also found for the other animals
rescued from the property.
The BC SPCA is a not-for-profit
organization that relies on donations from the public to fund its
work in cruelty investigation, emergency rescue, sheltering, and
other services to help animals. Donations are always urgently needed
- if you can help, please
visit this page to donate online or call 1-800-665-1868.
Further information:
Kathy Woodward, Special Provincial Constable, BC SPCA:
(250) 258-2511;
Lorie Chortyk, Community Relations Manager, BC SPCA:
(604) 647-1316, 1-800-665-1868, or 830-7179 (cell);
The BC SPCA is a non-profit organization
funded primarily by public donations. Our mission is to prevent
cruelty and to promote the welfare of animals through a wide range
of services, including cruelty investigations, emergency rescue and
treatment, sheltering and adoption of homeless and abused animals,
humane education, advocacy, farm animal welfare, spay/neuter
programs, and wildlife rescue and rehabilitation.
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