U.S. DOGS A CAUSE FOR CONCERN
Rapid increase in number of B.C. animal adoption groups partly fuelled by greed, she says
Advocacy group calls for government regulation of animal adoption groups.
The founder of the Paws For Hope Animal Foundation is calling for government regulation of animal adoption groups that are bringing dogs into B.C. from U.S. animal shelters.
“We are having large and unstable dogs being brought over the border and placed with families with no temperament testing being done or any attempt to match the dog with its adoptive family,” said Kathy Powelson.
“And when it doesn’t work out, the adoption group is missing in action and people are left to deal with it on their own. It’s dangerous to have such dogs in a community,” she said.
Many of the dogs being adopted in Canada are pit bulls, she said, as they make up many of unwanted dogs in U.S. shelters.
“I want to be clear that pit bulls are no more aggressive than any other large dog. But because of their reputation (they) are often bought by bad people and bad people often treat their animals badly and so you can get left with a problem,” Powelson said.
A shelter should only release a dog, she said, if it has passed a stringent assessment of its temperament and behaviour.
“What is happening now is many dogs are being pulled from shelters without being assessed at all because the shelters are desperate to get rid of them. Some dogs are not adoptable.”
Powelson said there has been a two-fold increase in the number of so-called animal adoption organizations operating in B.C. in the last two years.
There are about 80 of them and while some are in it to save dogs that would otherwise be euthanized, others are in it for the adoption fees they charge, she said. As for the numbers being brought in from the U.S., Mexico or other countries, no one knows because nobody is tracking them, she said.
However, anecdotal evidence and the increase in the number of so-called adoption services indicates large numbers of dogs are coming over the border, she said. “We think it’s a massive problem.”
Powelson said her organization, which advocates for animal welfare and supports animal rescue services, was opposed to the importing of rescued dogs because there are enough unwanted dogs in Canada that need homes.
“Also it doesn’t solve the problem in the U.S. As soon as one dog is removed from a shelter another takes its place,” she said.
The issue is not unique to B.C. On Saturday, 32 dogs — including 17 pit bull-type breeds — cheated death after they were shipped to foster homes in Calgary from shelters in California that euthanize unwanted dogs.
Debra Therrien, founder of BARC’s Rescue, the Calgary organization that welcomed the dogs, said there are no problems with the practice.
“We do a personality and behaviour assessment. If there’s any signs of aggression, they don’t get to come,” Therrien said. “We’re not in this to bring aggressive dogs to Canada, or populate our own backyard with a bunch of mean dogs.”
The desire to save as many lives as possible is understandable, but you don’t need to look beyond B.C. to find dogs in need of a home, said Lorie Chortyk, a BC SPCA spokeswoman.
“As an animal welfare association you want to save as many lives as you can,” Chortyk said.
“We don’t normally bring animals in because there are so many of them in B.C. that need help. But we do understand that people want to save as many lives as possible.”
When staff at a local SPCA branch find themselves with kennel space and an opportunity to save lives, they first look for animals to rescue at the municipal or regional level. After an SPCA branch has exhausted its local sources, staff can reach outside B.C. to bring in more animals to rescue, but they use a list of approved provinces and states when doing so.
“There’s very strict regulations around health concerns, behavioural assessments and things like that,” she said. “There’s definitely issues if you don’t know from a health perspective or from a behavioural perspective what you’re dealing with. … We have very strict health regulations, temperament regulations to make sure that the animals that we’re bringing in are going to have good outcomes, both for the animals and adopters.”
B.C. has less of an overpopulation problem than it once did, Chortyk said. She added that many people who are bringing in rescued dogs are getting them from areas in the southern United States where they have a serious dog overpopulation.