49 cats seized by SPCA
Search warrant executed at Forgotten Felines rescue shelter on farm in East Delta
Jessica Kerr, The Delta Optimist
Published: Saturday, September 27, 2008
The B.C. SPCA seized almost 50 cats from a local animal rescue group this week.

Two SPCA officers and two outside veterinarians, as well as two Delta police officers, visited the home of Penny March and Forgotten Felines at a farm in the 9000-block of Ladner Trunk Road Wednesday armed with a search warrant.

SPCA spokesperson Lorie Chortyk said the organization obtained the warrant after several complaints were received.

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Font:****"We recently did receive some pretty serious concerns. It was pretty horrific," Chortyk said of the scene that greeted the SPCA officers and the vets.

She said there were a number of dead and decomposing cats in the house, as well as many others the vets felt needed immediate medical attention. Many of the felines were emaciated and dehydrated.

She said two kittens were beyond help and were euthanized on site while a total of 49, which were deemed to be in the worst shape, were removed from the home and are now receiving veterinary care.

The Forgotten Felines shelter is home to more than 200 cats. Cats in the main shelter area, which is in an enclosed barn on the property, were not seized.

Chortyk said the SPCA also issued a number of orders to have the remaining cats examined by a vet within 24 hours. The SPCA will follow up with March to ensure the orders are followed.

Forgotten Felines has been in operation for more than a decade and touts itself as "Vancouver's largest, 100% donor-funded, true 'no-kill' cat shelter dedicated to the care and protection of hundreds of abandoned and forgotten cats and kittens found on the streets of B.C."

Chortyk said this is not the first time the SPCA has received complaints about, or issued orders to Forgotten Felines.

"This has been going on for a number of years," she said. "This is not an isolated situation.

"This is a rescue group... we always want rescue groups to succeed," she said.

"We'll continue to work with Forgotten Felines... we have for a number of years, we want them to succeed."

When the Optimist contacted March, she said she was talking to her lawyer and would call back. She didn't call prior to Optimist deadline.

A statement issued early Thursday morning by her supporters denounced the SPCA's actions.

"Each and every life is precious, and the SPCA has chosen to jeopardize the very lives of 49 individuals who have every right to exist... These animals have a home, food, shelter, and veterinary care. There are many in the province who do not, and who are ignored by the SPCA, despite their mandate to protect them."

The Vancouver Humane Society spoke out supporting the SPCA's actions. Spokesperson Peter Fricker said the society has received a number of complaints about the conditions at Forgotten Felines over the past year or so, which were subsequently passed along to the SPCA.

"The B.C. SPCA had received complaints that there are animals in distress at the shelter," Fricker said. "They would be remiss if they did not investigate those complaints. Their job is to enforce the provincial Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the cruelty provisions in the Criminal Code of Canada. That is what they are doing."

http://www.canada.com:80/deltaoptimist/news/story.html?id=2375f13a-debd-41b2-8444-767802fd24ae