Toronto Humane Society: Animal Cruelty Charges?

On Thursday I came across an article in the Globe and Mail that was depressing and disappointing and crushing and made me so effing irate it made me want to scream:

Humane Society Officals arrested, face animal-cruelty charges

To sum it up for you:

• the Toronto Humane Society's president, Tim Trow, chief veterenarian and three senior staff officials face criminal charges of animal cruelty;


• the Ontario SPCA's lawyer says the shelter is "disease-infested";


• the Humane Society vehemently disagrees (of course) and says the animals are under "excellent veterinary care."

During an investigation in June 2009 animals in poor condition were allegedly hidden from view inhibiting the investigators ability to complete their inspection. There have also been reports that the society's euthanasia policy is too strict, resulting in suffering animals dying in their cages rather than being humanely put down. The Globe and Mail suggests they keep euthanasia rates low (at 6%) to attract private donations "that are the society's sole source of operating funds."

Holy shit. How is this even happening? I'm not sure where to start.

How on earth did this get so out of hand? Trow was first pushed out of his position as president back in 1982 when he and other society officers were accused of implementing policies that, amongst other things, caused cruelty to animals. HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU GET A JOB WITH THAT KIND OF THING ON YOUR RESUME? I'm not sure he could get a job at Starbucks with that kind of track record, who thought President of a Humane society would be a good fit? Especially after it seems he screwed it up the first time.

Why are we only hearing about this now? Apparently current and past employees dismayed with the Humane Society's practices turned to the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Canada Revenue Agency, the College of Veterinarians of Ontario and Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General, to no avail. Let's just assume they didn't just write one measly email and actually put some real effort into being heard. Why didn't anyone listen? Why didn't anyone want to help? If these pictures are representative of the dismal conditions at the society (and not just cherry picked to sensationalize the issue), why weren't the voices loud enough to be heard and the ears sensitive enough to pick up on the injustice and do whatever needed to be done to stop it?

There is all kinds of political back and forth but the crux of the issue is this- when we put ourselves in the position to take care of someone or something, it is our responsibility to carry out that obligation to the best of our abilities. I've ranted on about this before (here): I believe we all know the difference between right and wrong. If Trow and his team neglected the animals in their care this is clearly wrong. Given the positions of trust they held, and the fact they were supposed to uphold the mission of a HUMANE SOCIETY, this act of wrong is beyond excusable.

Not only will they have wronged the animals in their care, they will have cast a shadow of distrust every other humane society out there.

If these humane society employees are found not guilty, what does this say about the duty of care a humane society has for its animals? What does it say about the society's detractors and the Ontario SPCA making these charges in the first place?

If they are found guilty, how much of it is our fault for letting it carry on?

Either way it stands as a reminder that we cannot afford to sit back and assume that things are being taken care of. We must always demand transparency, investigate and hold our leaders accountable to their actions.

If I am missing something, by all means, please share.

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Mon, Jan 11, 2010 update: Humane Society court cases put over until Feb 2 (via CBCnews)

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Mon, Jan 11, 2010 update: New arrests in investigation of Humane Society (via National Post)

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Sat, Dec 5th update: At scandals core is a legitimate debate (via thestar.com)

Summary: There has been a long standing rivalry between the Toronto Humane Society and the OSPCA. Part of the story is about money (the Humane Society pulls in over $10 million a year, another part is about euthanasia policies...

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Wed, December 2nd update: Humane Society hires top criminal lawyer (via thestar.com)

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Tues, December 1st update: Humane society's raccoon handling probed (via CBCnews)

Summary: There are suspicions the society may have violated laws on releasing raccoons. Authorities are also not able to adopt the approximately 1,000 animals at the society until it reopens (which could be weeks).

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Mon, November 30th update: Cruelty Charges stuns "fantastic" vets' friends (via thestar.com)

Excerpt: "Past and present colleagues describe Stephen Sheridan as a dedicated animal activist..."

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Mon, November 30th update: Toronto Humane Society remains closed (via CBCnews)

Excerpt: "The Toronto Humane Society will not reopen Tuesday and could be shuttered for 'at least three weeks,' according to the chief investigator for the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals... There are about 1,000 animals in the shelter. They were initially scheduled to be put up for adoption Tuesday."

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I'm Going on a Date!

Mmmmm.... I am looking forward to weekend adventures, you guys! Friday night I am going on a DATE with my husband. Woo hoo! Depending on how this one goes, I MIGHT EVEN GO OUT WITH HIM AGAIN.

These plans are a HUGE step up from my plans from last weekend. Last weekends' plans sucked rocks. These ones are better.

When I took this picture we came THIS close to losing Kayloo over the rocks and into the waves (there is an ocean there, way behind Mickey in this photo). Wee bit of a klutz our Kayloo is.

Happy Friday!

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In Sync (or the Lion, the Pink and the Collar)

If my dogs were in a boy band (even though Kayloo is a girl) they would be *NSYNC. Cuz they are walking on the same foot it. They are "in sync." Get it?

Okay, back to Kayloo being a girl. Kayloo is a girl and she wears a blue collar so everyone always says things like," Oh, look at how friendly HE is," "Oh, HE'S so slobbery," "Oh, look at that, HE doesn't know me at all but here HE is trying to sit on my lap." KAYLOO IS A GIRL, PEOPLE. Come on now.

It's all my fault too. When we first got Kayloo they thought she was going to be 25lbs. But she kept growing and growing and growing so when she graduated from her first collar we had to get something that would fit her for awhile. I found a SUPER CUTE pink collar with studs on it and John, for some reason LOST EVERY FIBRE OF ADVENTURE IN HIS BODY and said: NO HELL NO SHAUNA NO PUT IT DOWN.

Lame.

So, being the gentle, accommodating wallflower that I am, I quiety acquiesced and said, "Of course, Husband. Whatever you wish," AND THEN A GIANT LION GALLOPED INTO THE STORE AND ATE EVERY SINGLE COLLAR EXCEPT FOR THE BLUE ONE KAYLOO WEARS TODAY.

I know. UNBELIEVABLE.

It's a very bright, shiny blue. It's a lovely colour. I'm not a rhinstone kind of girl but there is something about that damn boy collar that makes me want to pull some mad Martha Stewart skills ALL OVER IT. Maybe it'll be blue and... wait for it... PINK!!!

Just kidding, truth be told, I just said that to bug John. I don't care what colour it is I just want it to be more feminine.

If you have some amazing Spruce-Up-Kayloo's-Collar ideas for me, lemme know! As we all know sewing isn't exactly my strong point (you can read about an earlier attempt at sewing here), but HELP ME STOP THE MADNESS, PEOPLE! KAYLOO IS A GIRL!!!

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No Such Thing as Neutral Territory

Mickey is staring down at Kayloo, just DARING her to make her way up the stairs. I'm pretty sure he peed on every post on the way down so clearly the stairs are now his.

Boys.

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Unwelcome House Guest

Presenting to you our house guest for the weekend: THE CARPET CLEANER.

This little machine took over most of our days off, joined us for dinner, and can definitely be held responsible for stubbing my toe because all the furniture was totally in the wrong place. We have 7 pairs of soggy socks (each) crowding the laundry basket and have learned that if we want to get fancy we can get rid of the fence and build a moat to keep Mickey in the yard because he hates water even more than we thought he did. He's been prancing around here like the floor is on fire trying to keep his precious paws away from the oh-so-horrid wet.

He may be part cat.

I have had a stern talking to with the dogs and informed them that the next time they want to disrespect my carpet (WHAT? WERE YOU BORN IN A BARN?) they can steam clean the whole damn house themselves. I'll let you know how that pans out.

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Friday's Make it Easier to Handle the Dentist

Omg IT'S FRIDAY!!!! (Wanna read another super excited FRIDAY!!! post? Sure ya do! Here it is!!!).

Guess what John and I are doing this weekend... come on, guess! Ok, I'll tell you. We're going to rent a stupid steamcleaner for our carpets because our STUPID DOGS ARE STUPID.

AND I'm going to nurse my wimpy girly gums because I just braved a trip to the dentist. I hate the dentist. WHO'S WITH ME? You go to the dental office and the dentist is all, "Hmmm, that's interesting. Your gums are bleeding." And you're all, "ARE ALL YOUR OTHER PATIENTS SUPERHUMAN FREAKS WITH TITANIUM GUMS? I don't have titanium gums! I have normal flesh gums that react negatively to being slap chopped with MINI MACHETES."

To be clear, my dentist and dental hygenist are super nice people. They are kind and charming and without a doubt the ONLY PEOPLE I trust to come near my face with any contraption that makes a terrifying weeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE sound.

My issue has more with the fact that dentristy mandates sharp metal pokey things doing acrobatics in my mouth.

While I'm busy with that my dogs are going to run around a bit and then hang out in front of the fire. Tough life.

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Hilarious Funagle Fun

The lovely people at darfinc sent over a board game called funagle (a game for people to play with their dogs). It's basically a nice way to structure the time you spend making fun of your dog(s). Don't even try to tell me I'm the only one who does that. Here we are in action:



Good times were had by all, lemme tell ya.

And look! The little play piece thing-o's ARE IN THE SHAPE OF DOGS! That is totally freaking hilarious. WILL YOU LOOK AT HOW CUTE THEY ARE.



Thanks again, darfinc!

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