Apparently, members of the Toronto Humane Society have been abusing and neglecting their animals. As a huge supporter and former volunteer of the Humane Society in Ottawa, plus all round animal lover, I’m outraged! Many of the animals that end up in shelters already have a tragic history of horrific abuse and neglect at the hands of their scumbag owners. When they are finally rescued they require special medical and emotional attention, as well as deserve clean and sanitary living conditions. According to an OSPCA laywer (Chris Avery): “It’s absolutely disease infested,” Avery said. “The animals were left to catch horrible diseases and die in their crates.”
Humane society president Tim Trow, general manager Gary McCracken, supervisor Andy Bechtel, manager Romeo Bernadino and vet Dr. Steve Sheridan-You should all be ashamed! You’re scum and have tarnished the reputation of the Humane Society. I hope someday someone leaves you to rot in your own filth when you need help the most!
Picture-http://www.photographytips.com.au/images/dogs-recession-sad-photos1.jpg
I heard about that and it makes me sick. I supported them for years when I lived in Toronto. I’m hoping this is an isolated incident, but that STILL doesn’t make it right and something needs to be done.
By: Chris on November 27, 2009
at 4:19 pm
That news really upset me yesterday. I can’t even articulate how mad it makes me.
I agree with Chris – I hope this is an isolated incident … that said, I hope this current situation is investigated and prosecuted seriously.
By: quackattack on November 27, 2009
at 5:27 pm
I’ve had reservations about municipally run humane societies for a long time. The way they house animals, their adoption procedures, kill policies — when you compare them to privately run rescue organizations they fall very short.
By: XUP on November 27, 2009
at 5:43 pm
Chris-I heard some negative things about the Toronto SPCA before this story broke so it definitely sounds like assholes were running the place, unfortunately.
Quackattack-Our animal cruelty legislation is woefully inadequate so these people might just get a slap on the wrist! I hope it also sheds some light on the need to change our animal cruelty laws and how our current government is weak on animal abusers.
XUP-I think the Ottawa SPCA does a good job. I’ve adopted our two cats from there and they were well taken care of. I think it depends on who is running each individual shelter.
By: hannah78 on November 27, 2009
at 6:14 pm
That really is awful.
By: Capital Mom on November 27, 2009
at 6:34 pm
Capital Mom-It really is. How people this selfish and horrible be in charge of taking care of animals?
By: hannah78 on November 27, 2009
at 7:26 pm
That’s heartbreaking. It never ceases to amaze me how cruel we can be as a species, and how easily we pray on the weak and vulnerable whenever possible.
I want to take the dog in that picture home. I have a soft spot for sad eyes. However, I already have five pets and three kids. We’re a pretty full house!
By: The Maven on November 28, 2009
at 1:17 am
I am sickened by this news. I am a huge animal lover and supporter of the RSPCA here in Australia, and was a faithful supporter of the ASPCA in the USA.
How terrible. I hope they get more than a wrist slap!
By: Julia @ Mélanger on November 28, 2009
at 1:18 am
That is disgraceful and disgusting. I give to my local Humane Society and hope they do better than these horrible people.
By: lacochran on November 28, 2009
at 12:59 pm
I hope that the punishment is severe for something like that. Seems like it’s usually a slap on the wrist, if that. Animals are just not valued highly enough… non-human animals, that is.
By: Blueberry on November 28, 2009
at 4:45 pm
Wow. You would think people had more sense. Something like this can hurt them for years to come. Perhaps rightly so.
By: get off my lawn on November 28, 2009
at 9:36 pm
The Maven-We both have soft spots for sad eyes, but you can’t bring them all home unfortunately. LOL. Wow! Five pets and three kids plus two adults, you do have a full house!
Julia-Well keep supporting them, these were hopefully just a few token sick and horrible individuals. Here in Canada, the SPCA and indepedent rescues are usually a beacon of hope for homeless and abused animals.
Lacochran-I hope so too!
Blueberry-My thoughts exactly! All living creatures are important on this planet, but its because of human arrogance and ignorance that other animals have suffered and the ecosystem is out of whack.
Get off my lawn-Side-note-I miss your blog. Have you added any new updates?
Unfortunately, it will hurt them for years to come, which will cause more suffering for the rescued animals in Toronto in the future.
By: hannah78 on November 30, 2009
at 1:33 pm
Yes! Just recently. I think I’ll be posting one a week or so. Watch for Saturdays.
By: get off my lawn on November 30, 2009
at 7:13 pm
I worked for a number of years when I was on the Hill to help try to pass the animal cruelty legislation that was introduced by the Chretien government. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it passed in the Senate after numerous attempts. MP Mark Holland tried to reintroduce the Bill but couldn’t get it to pass as a private member either. Unfortunately, recently retired Senator John Bryden’s Bill – a disastrously watered down version – did pass. It did increase penalties, but retains archaic language that will make it more difficult to get convictions.
The individuals charged as a result of the horrors at the Toronto Humane Society are also charged with obstructing justice – it’s the most serious charge they face (in terms of maximum penalty), and potentially the easiest to get a conviction on.
By: Darrell on December 1, 2009
at 5:41 am
Get off my lawn-Great, will do!
Darrell-The fact that a country as wealthy and democratic as ours has such horrible animal cruelty laws is a travesty!
By: hannah78 on December 1, 2009
at 1:44 pm