OSPCA attacks Toronto Humane Society

The Globe did a three-part series on the Toronto Humane Society, which apparently led to this investigation.

Here's one of them: Killing them with kindness

Quote:

 

Harley's attentive owners made her one of the society's luckier pets. An investigation by The Globe and Mail has found that the Toronto Humane Society is a shelter in crisis, a place where animals die suffering unnecessarily in their cages, according to veterinarians, significant amounts of money are spent on litigation, and the opinions of veterinary professionals are dismissed. According to insiders, its volunteer president, Tim Trow, has intimidated dozens of staff, volunteers and veterinarians into quitting out of protest. They vehemently disagree about the way he runs the shelter.

“I know what's right and I know what's wrong,” said Mary Mathison, who volunteers in the THS's kitten nursery. “And it's definitely wrong, wrong, wrong there.”

“It is heart-wrenching, I've watched critically ill animals suffer and die in my hands while I run around trying to get permission to euthanize,” said Magdalena Smrdelj, a THS veterinarian.

Both know they're risking their positions by speaking to The Globe, as THS staff and volunteers are required to sign confidentially agreements. Both said that animal suffering inside the shelter was too great for them to remain silent.

Also:

Quote:

The Globe reviewed dozens of medical charts of animals left to die in their cages as a result of the shelter's much-too restrictive euthanasia policy, according to current and former staff and volunteers. The Globe also obtained pictures of cats and dogs living in their own excrement and interviewed more than 30 concerned current and former employees, volunteers, members and adoptive families – past and present – who have begged for help from the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Canada Revenue Agency. They have also tried to enlist the College of Veterinarians of Ontario and Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General, all to no avail.

The OSPCA has every right to investigate, and SHOULD be cracking down on the THS if this is true.

Alleged financial mismanagement and poor labour and volunteer practices

Quote:

“There was a dog who'd had a cyst removed from his leg, and because we were out of pain medication he didn't receive any pain medication for five days,” Ms. Neilson said.

Two weeks ago, Ms. Neilson noticed three kittens that had aspirated on milk formula fed to them by improperly trained volunteers. She appealed to a veterinarian to have the kittens euthanized, but was told that the shelter couldn't spare the euthanol.

“So six days later these cats died in their cage. They couldn't be fed, they couldn't go to the washroom, they just died suffocating, basically,” she said.

Pat Hope, a volunteer in the shelter's kitten nursery, often found that the shelter didn't have the type of food required to sustain her mewing charges.

For nearly six years she spent her Friday nights convincing pink-nosed newborns to drink from a syringe or a bottle.

It was a delicate business. If she fed them too slowly, the kittens would starve; if she fed them too quickly, they would drown in the milk.

In her last year at the shelter, in 2008, Ms. Hope noticed that the kittens were receiving less and less attention from staff. She became concerned too many were dying of neglect.

Ms. Hope outlined her concerns regarding the availability of staff and supplies in an e-mail to the shelter's volunteer co-ordinator. When she didn't get a response, she wrote to management in June, 2008.

That July, she received a response sent on the behalf of operations manager Gary McCracken: “Dear Pat, I write with respect to your e-mail of June 30, 2008.

While any program can be improved, your criticism is too harsh … At this time, I request that you take time out as a volunteer in the nursery until further notice.”

Ms. Hope was subsequently “fired” from her volunteer position.

I was listening to the CBC when this was being talked about. The THS has greatly disappointed me. There are also allegations of treating the volunteer staff horribly.

It wasn't just the Globe article; it was years of complaints from numerous people, former workers and veterinarians who resigned in protest.  I used to donate to the THS, but I haven't for years because of numerous unsavoury things I have heard.  A no-kill policy is fine and noble when you're talking about healthy animals that are not wanted, but overriding the judgement of veterinarians isn't on.

I heard a representative from the THS interviewed on the CBC, and he said that they were "vindicated" by the OSPCA, who inspected them and found "not a single animal" suffering, warranting euthanasia.  So the OSPCA said, not so fast; we found some cats in poor condition.

For a number of years there's been a lack of oversight, allowing people to do things according to their own agendas.  Recall last year when that guy handcuffed a person to his car for leaving his dog locked up in the heat.  Whether you agree with that or not, I was very surprised that THS workers have HANDCUFFS.  Are they going to have guns next?

If people are not held to account, they tend to behave as badly as they can get away with.

I see where you're coming from, Bookish, but this Globe series of articles was not based on the OSPCA - they didn't use the OSPCA as their sources for the original articles, they used current and former employees and volunteers and veterinarians. It was only once the OSPCA saw these articles that they did an investigation - indeed, they'd have been remiss NOT to have investigated after that.

Michelle Moderator - I think the title of this thread needs to be more accurate: TORONTO HUMANE SOCIETY SCANDAL

and perhaps it should be moved to Activism topic given the 'Protest' nature of what's going on.

It should be clear now that the OSPCA did not 'attack' Toronto Humane Society but is simply doing their job in response to the

initial Globe and Mail investigative articles that started appearing May 30, 2009.

To the poster complaining about the scary powers that the OSPCA have: they are legitimate under provincial law:

"As a non-profit charitable organization, the Ontario SPCA is unique amongst animal welfare organizations in Ontario:

the Ontario SPCA Act mandates the Society to enforce animal cruelty laws and provides Ontario SPCA Community investigators

with police powers to do so." http://www.ontariospca.ca/

I will, however, move this to the "Central Canada" forum since it's primarily a news story, and it's not really about the environment or environmental justice.

Michelle wrote:

I see where you're coming from, Bookish, but this Globe series of articles was not based on the OSPCA - they didn't use the OSPCA as their sources for the original articles, they used current and former employees and volunteers and veterinarians. It was only once the OSPCA saw these articles that they did an investigation - indeed, they'd have been remiss NOT to have investigated after that.

Oh I'm not saying there isn't legitimate reasons for this investigation or many others.  What I am simply suggesting is that the OSPCA is not quite the white knight they pretend to be.  And in fact they often act in abusive and threatening ways to people outside the media glare.  They also have been given the powers of police with zero oversight.  In a democratic society I find that troubling.

I find this all very sad. The Toronto Star quotes Liz Wright ""This relationship [between THS and OSPCA] might look really bad now, but believe me, there have been much worse times," said Liz White, director of Animal Alliance of Canada, who worked for the humane society till 1990." and ""There have been difficult times between the two organizations," White said."Both care for animals but differ on the philosophy behind it. These are two organizations which deeply feel (for animals) and they need to sit down and talk to each other," White added."  http://www.thestar.com/article/645351.

I don't think anyone would argue that Tim Trow, Ian McConachie, the staff and volunteers at THS and the staff and volunteers at OSPCA don't care deeply for animals.  Now I'm seeing lawsuits and protests being initiated.  Somehow I don't think any of these things are going to help.  Reading between the lines, it seems a lot a this relates to Tim Trow's politics and personality (not his commitment to animal welfare).  I don't think that a war between people and organizations which have the same goals at heart is going to advance the goals.

And really, euthanasia is not the problem.  The problem is that we have so many unwanted companion pets.  We need to attach that problem at its source.

1. We need to enact City legislation to require all cats and dogs be spayed/neutered (San Francisco just did it) and provide the service free when needed.

2. We need to eliminate the breed bans (its not the breed, its the owner) and devote more resources to training and enforcing good pet ownership.

3. We need to fund all our shelters and humane societies to be able to market the compassionate adoption of shelter pets, including calling out those 'pet stores' that get their animals from puppy mills.  Or, even better, can we require all pet stores to source their cats and dogs from animal shelters?  That way, people would only have 2 places to get pets, authorized breeders and animal shelters. 

I am totally against the pit bull ban. I do not think we should be killing these dogs because a few jackasses train them to be vicious. Go after the people who train these dogs to be mean. Why is there a different standard for people than for dogs? Hell, I think animals make better friends than people.

The problem with your argument Sineed is that it comes down to people's opinions. You either like the dogs or you don't. They are no more aggressive than any other dogs. These dogs are chosen because of a few people who turn them into monsters. IMO these people should suffer serious fines and jail sentences for their actions. In the 80's their was talk about banning Doberman Pinchers. But now you don't hear abot this. Pit Bulls are the new breed to pick on. Look at the thread on Sasha, who is not a pit bull but who is going to be killed because she looks like one.

Throw these people in jail. Fine them. Make them accountable for what their dogs do. Do not kill the dogs. What kind of society is this that we kill animals for the behaviour of their owners and where does it stop? What breed is next?

Amen, Sineed, and well argued. There is no excuse for killing dogs because of an accident of their birth. But nor is there any excuse for creating them in our image. God did that to humans, and look what happened.

Oops, double posted.

... thread drift ....

This is not about the pitbull ban. It's about the scandals revealed at Toronto Humane Society by the many Globe and Mail

articles since May 30, 2009. It's about the reasons why the OSPCA have revoked their affiliate status and the ongoing investigation

which will take weeks because of so many people coming forward with complaints.

From the THS protest facebook site, it seems the OSPCA had to call in investigatory help:

"Due to the number of people who have come forward with information in this matter, the Ontario SPCA has retained the services of The Investigators Group to assist Senior Inspector Mindy Hall, the lead investigator in this case, in processing the information."

Please assist Mr. Joynt and The Investigators Group in any way you can. The situation at the Toronto Humane Society has been going on for years. Do your part.
If you know something please send any information you have.

Contact Information:
Bill Joynt, President
The Investigators Group
416.955.9450
[email protected]

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -Mahatama Gandhi

Hey Alecto, welcome to babble!

Just so you know how things work - this is a discussion forum - people write their opinions here, and anyone can start a new thread.  So the opening post to this thread is not an "article", really - it is simply an opening post to a discussion thread, and everyone is free to post their opinions and refute other people's as you have just done.

This is not to say that a no-kill policy cannot be implemented.  I visit the Richmond Cat Shelter that recent took in 100 cats from a local farm.  They have room for 900 un-adoptable animals including a special unit for feline lukemia victims.  When they tore down the Steveston Packer site there was a group of feral cats retrieved and who were given their own quarters as they can't function with other cats.  I have a number of friends who go there to be surrounded by cats (having a bag of cat treats helps).

As for the funding problems, I think the city has to take some of the responsibility.  They tendered the contract and forced the Toronto Humane Society to underbid the SPCA for the service.  A no-kill policy for pet agencies should not be subject to "as long as it is cheaper".