OSPA

[Dan Andrews]

Letter to the Editor:

Like the police, the OSPCA has been given the responsibility of protecting a portion of our society--in this case, animals. But here’s the catch: The police need to answer to the government for what they do--they’re held accountable for their actions. Plus the police are paid by the government to do their jobs. The OSPCA doesn’t work that way. They don’t have to answer to any government body for any action they take--they report to no one. With nothing more than a grade 12 education and a few weeks of training, they’re granted any and all of the powers of a police officer in Ontario. Incredibly, they can also enter your property without a warrant--something even a seasoned police officer cannot do.

The OSPCA can also profit directly from what they do to people. The more aggressively they go after animal owners, and the more aggressively they publicize their seizures in the press, the more money they can make from donations. They can profit from being overzealous. They can profit by selling your pet back to you after seizing it. They can profit by selling your pet to the general public without your consent. If the police could get away with this, people would be enraged--and that’s exactly how we should feel about this situation.

Steven Straub is in St. Thomas court this week. He plead guilty to having a dirty budgie cage, and now the OSPCA is suing him civilly for $197,000. Not for anything to do with the budgie cage, but to cover the costs they incurred when they ceased 87 animals from his farm. Animals that the Animal Care Review Board stated could have been left on the property and taken care of right there.

There are currently no provincial standards for animal care, so the opinion of any SPCA worker who steps on your property is considered the law. There is no government oversight for their actions, no accountability, and no one you can report them to if they accuse you unfairly.

The OSPCA needs to be revamped. They are a necessary organization, but they are not more important than the police. Like the police, they should require a search warrant before entering your home. They should be held fully accountable--to both the government and to the public--for every animal that they destroy and every person that they try to get money from. And, like the police, they should be paid by the government to do their work. They should not be able to profit from being overly aggressive--that makes them no better than extortionists.

L. Shaver

[knightfisher]

They couldn't nail him on anything so they got him on a dirty bird cage......unbelievable.

Scarey.........

[trfish]

You raise a lot of great points.. most importantly the one regarding accountability. The government really should try to incorporate them into some sort of partnership.. they'll give them a little money and the OSPCA has to answer directly to them. However I don't know if that would work in our current situation, given certain conditions. Think of how little funding existing government departments get.

On a side note about the SCPA.. When I was younger I gave them money: $15. I was naive and didn't know much about the group. Since then I have received gifts from them far beyond what my $15 could have bought. Personalized note pads, pens, hats, gloves.. the gifts I'd been given with the message to "give more" totaled probably around 40-50 until I finally got them to stop (took 3 times). It's kind of sad though, people give them money to help animals, but they use the money to a) just use it to try to get more money (which is probably used to get more) or as the poster pointed out, go on unaccountable missions, trespass, seize pets, and extort private individuals. When did vigilantism become common practice in Canada?