Dear Editor:
This is my final rebuttal in the case of the Sheltie Collies that were forced to live on the remains of two people I loved very much. The family and I have come to the conclusion that is a futile fight for what we strongly feel was the right thing to do, the SPCA is a huge business and we are only a few small people trying to stand up for the protection of someone out there who will get bit sometime in the future. That is not 'if' someone gets bit, it is 'when', as this is going to happen to someone with at least some of these particular dogs.
When the SPCA picked the dogs up the nephew in charge signed a paper giving the SPCA permission to put the dogs down, he also verbally told them this is what he wanted done, By not following through with the families wishes the SPCA has put them through a lot of unnecessary turmoil, this family has been through more than any family should have to bear and the SPCA has tried to turn their wishes into a complete mockery. If these were Pit Bulls instead of cute little Shelties this would have had a completely different outcome!
I do not have an animal behavior degree but I have spent my entire life working with animals, mostly horses and dogs, I have learned what I know by hands on experience and I have been dealing with dogs longer than some of these specialists have been alive. I challenge people to watch the program that the man who evaluated these dogs for the SPCA has on the air, and listen to him yell at his clients in front of their dogs and tell people to tie the leash around their waist. There are children watching that program and you don't have to have a degree to know where that could lead.
When the SPCA picked up the dogs there were 8, not 7, we have not heard, nor will they tell us, what happened to the older female Golden Retriever cross and in my opinion only her and one of the male Shelties could ever be trusted again. The SPCA keeps saying there are 5 Shelties and 2 mixed breed Shelties. There were no other breeds over there to mix them with, the ones that they are saying are mixed breed are so inbred that they do not even look like pure Shelties, but they are. There was father breeding daughter, son breeding mother and sister, it had gotten way out of hand, so I did the only thing I could do to stop this puppy mill that was happening, I talked them into letting me take the two males to my vet clinic to have them neutered, and while they were there one of them bit my vet tech. I did a lot of health maintenance work on these Shelties, last year, all 8 dogs were full of ear mites, in order to be able to clean and medicate their ears Sandy had to catch and muzzle some of the Shelties, he got bit twice while doing this and he was the owner... and now these dogs have been evaluated and deemed safe? They only had the dogs 10 days before placing them and have said nothing is wrong with them and they are safe, and 10 days earlier they said the dogs were very emaciated and now they saying they are in good shape.... give me a break!
There are documented cases where dogs have been locked in with their deceased owners for up to 6 weeks and did not touch them, these Shelties were fear biters and inbred, they did not follow that protocol. I have talked to several vets, medical Doctors and people who deal with these kinds of things with the field of work they are in, and so far they have unanimously said that the families wishes were correct and that is what should have been done. I can not be accused of giving the SPCA a black eye, they have done a fine job of that on their own.
The media has also reported that this couple were found by a relative, that is not correct either, they were found by a neighbor, who did the right thing and called in the RCMP.
I am done fighting about what is right and what is wrong, we are all entitled to our own opinions on this but that opinion needs to be made with facts, not a bleeding heart. When someone gets bit, and I do sincerely hope it is not a defenseless child, I hope that family brings their story to the media. I am sure the SPCA has had the people, that are re-homing these dogs, sign an airtight document so they can not be sued.
Some of my friends are worried that the SPCA will go after me now because I have stood up for what I believe in, my answer is the same each time, my animals are well looked after so there is really nothing they can go after me for, the last time I checked there was no law against telling the truth.
I have no problem putting my name to this, it was very hard for me to say these animals should be euthanized, I know them personally, each one of them. The SPCA is toting the fact that they are rehabilitating them, they have never even asked any of their names.... if you were fostering a child, would you not want to know the child's name so you could start with that? It is the same with dogs, some of these dogs are older, in fact the youngest is already over two years old, and they all know their name. So people, when forming an opinion of this sad story, please deal with the facts and be careful who you donate your money to.
The family and friends of this couple will now move on with the grieving process and try not to spell a four letter word that gets all our blood boiling.... that word is SPCA. I hope their organization can stand proud after the needless pain, that will last forever, that they have inflicted on several humans over several inbred, fear biting dogs.
Margaret-Ann Irving
Springside, SK.
