Image Credit: BC SPCA

By Daniela Ginta

The Way I See It

GINTA: Proper laws and responsible humans can prevent animal abuse

Sep 28, 2020 | 1:05 PM

THE STORY HIT THE NEWS THREE DAYS AGO, but it’s already buried under so many others that have emerged since. It was yet another story about animal cruelty, and sadly, another story about a known offender.

A total of 97 badly neglected animals, including adults dogs and puppies, horses and cats, were seized from a woman’s property in Princeton, a location she settled for after hopping from one place to another in the Lower Mainland where she had another bunch of animals seized in 2016.

It’s awful that innocent and defenseless animals suffer at the hands of some humans. It’s beyond awful that these humans get to do it again until someone takes notice, they get reported and their poor victims get seized.

Then they do it all over again and the rest of us get to see more disturbing photos of abused animals and we add that to the stack of similar stories we’ve been hearing over the years.

For this particular story we’ve yet to hear what kind of legal consequences she will face. I hope we will, and I also hope that she will be forever banned from owning any animals. It’s baffling that life bans are not the usual. A good deterrent would also be publishing the name of the offenders.

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The temporary bans, some stretching to even a decade, may or may not deter these people from repeating their heartless treatment of animals, likely on a property away from other people’s eyes.

Among the dogs she kept in horrible conditions were popular breeds — Labrador retrievers, Dalmatians, Corgis, Great Pyrenees, King Charles spaniels, Yorkshire terriers, Maltese, poodles and Australian cattle dogs. The number of puppies, 43 of them, is testament to the fact that she was doing business selling them.

Which takes us to the same old: do people who want a specific breed know where their puppies come from? If not, then it is possible that many come from puppy mill operations most of us would find abhorrent and cruel.

As always, when there’s little accountability, anything goes. Puppies are good business, especially pure breeds or certain crossbreeds. You’re lucky if you can find one under $1,000. If a litter has seven or eight puppies, the math is looking pretty good for those who want to strike it big but without offering their animals proper conditions to live.

Keep in mind that not all animal cruelty cases become news, and also, let’s think of the many cruel stories unfolding as I write this which can go undiscovered.

What’s to be done to prevent more animals from suffering at the hands of heartless humans? Strict regulations, inspections for anyone who has a breeding operation or an animal shelter (yes, abuse can happen there too, unfortunately,) no hidden-from-view operations and harsh legal consequences for anyone who abuses their animals and treats them inhumanely.

From a pure emotional perspective and as a dog owner, I’d say putting animal abusers through a few weeks of the treatment that their animals endured while in their possession might just send a strong message and warning to others, too.

Like I said, an emotional response, but sometimes you must wonder if perhaps animal abuse and all cases of abuse of the defenseless should not be punished in that way.

But past that, it comes down to people wanting a puppy. How to spot an honest breeder of pups or kittens, or any other desired pets? Ideally there should be a BC SPCA-approved list of reputable ones to choose from, but until we have that in place, there’s ways to tell the good from the bad ones. Buyer beware, the no-good sources include shipping puppies across the country, or God forbid, from overseas, as well as buying them through pet stores.

I am hoping that the law will change to prevent such sad stories. Until then, I urge you to do your part to help eradicate animal cruelty. Also, keep your eyes open wherever you go and take a second look if something looks suspicious. Happy animals are not hard to tell from mistreated ones.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.