----- Original Message -----
From: Anna Wong
To: board@spca.bc.ca
Cc: cdaniell@spca.bc.ca
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2005 8:28 PM
Subject: Why spend donations on a lawsuit?
To whom it may concern:
I am not sure why the SPCA feels it needs to spend donors' money to silence its critics. Perhaps they feel that there are no improvements needed within the SPCA. I guess it must be perfectly acceptable to keep a dog chained in a backyard 24/7, allowing it's mental health to deteriorate, forcing a social animal to suffer in isolation and potentially become aggressive due to lack of socialization. It must also be okay for backyard breeders to keeping pumping out more animals than there are homes for, making animal control a necessary evil that the SPCA will, of course, take on for society.
Pardon my facetious tone, but I can't understand why a Society with the means to do so doesn't use its funds to take care of the animals, rather than target other animal rights groups, using these funds. Don't all rescues and animal rights groups have the same ultimate goals? My conclusion as to the reason for the lawsuit is that SPCA must believe itself to be perfect -- a perfect system, run by perfect people, and no errors in judgment, procedure or policy are ever made. But that contradicts what I said about there being more animals produced than there could possibly be homes for. An animal welfare group would never allow this to happen if it had the means and authority to make real changes for the benefit of the animals.
Only the SPCA has the power to make these much needed changes happen now. Educate the public, invoke changes in law to make backyard breeders a thing of the past, and sincerely speak for the animals who cannot speak for themselves. What is the SPCA waiting for?
SPCA, are changes regarding backyard breeding -- the root of the problem of animal overpopulation -- even on your back-burner? Please start invoking change now. Make BC a leader in animal welfare and a template for others to follow. Make it happen, and the SPCA will reap the benefits of praise and further donations for the animals from its supporters, and your critics will turn into your greatest supporters of all.
Anna Wong
North Vancouver, BC