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The government
must amend the Act so that: 1) The SPCA
is obligated to enforce the Act. 2) The government will review
all SPCA cruelty files and will publicly and annually report: a) the
numbers of cruelty investigations and the jurisdictions in which they
originate, b) the outcome of these investigations, including seizures,
and the grounds on which those decisions were made by the SPCA, c)
how many cases have been referred to Crown Counsel along with the
numbers of charges and convictions, and d) the numbers of complaints
made about SPCA special constables under the Police Act and the outcomes
of those complaints.
To restore the public trust the BC SPCA must at once implement
this key remedy: 1) The SPCA must immediately fund an off-site,
stand alone BC SPCA Ombudsman's Office in Vancouver. 2) The B.C.
Veterinary Medical Association must be asked to select and appoint
an independent ombudsman, who is not now and has never been affiliated
with the SPCA. The BC SPCA Ombudsman's Office, not the SPCA itself,
will employ, immediately hire, dispatch and pay wages to experienced
and respected vets, who have no past or current affiliation with the
SPCA, to perform daily rounds in all its shelters and hospitals to
ensure that the society is stopping any inhumane treatment of and
preventing cruelty to the animals in its own facilities. These vets
will report to the ombudsman and the society, simultaneously case-by-case,
and issue overall quarterly reports. The ombudsman will in turn issue
quarterly reports, the drafts of which will not be reviewed by the
SPCA, to the public through news releases and on the BC SPCA website.
The ombudsman must also report to the public any attempts at interference
by the SPCA. 3) The public must have direct access to the ombudsman
to file any grievances about the SPCA's board, personnel, processes,
and/or operations. And, 4) The BC SPCA Ombudsman's Office, on animals'
behalf, must fulfill the role of overseeing and reporting on animals'
welfare and whether or not the SPCA is adequately enforcing the Act
in public, unless and until such accountability amendments are law
(refer to above paragraph).
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