BC SPCA supports crack down on dog and cat breeders

Feb 22, 2016 | 2:59 PM

KAMLOOPS  — The BC SPCA is applauding Premier Christy Clark’s announcement, to crack down on irresponsible cat and dog breeders.

The Province and the BC SPCA will work closely to develop new laws to monitor all breeders and to take action against irresponsible ones. The move comes on the heels of two high-profile cases where the SPCA raided a pair of Lower Mainland facilities and seized 150 animals. The government will consult with the SPCA on licensing to operate as a breeder, and the new regulations will recognize the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association’s Code of Practice. 

“Grooming of the animals, cleanliness of the facility, ventilation and light, those are some of the foremost things. Getting into other one’s that I quite interestingly saw when I came up here in 2003, is to see if they have an emergency plan in place, things like that. When it comes to the breeding, we don’t want to see puppies breeding puppies, and some dogs that are so overbred, they don’t have a good end of life plan or quality of life down the road. So, any improvement in these lines is going to be a good day,” says Cst. Kent Kokoska, BC SPCA Senior Animal Protection Officer.

Constable Kent Kokoska says in his 26 years with the BC SPCA, and 13 years in Kamloops, he has inspected dozens and dozens of facilities, from backyard operations to larger industrial scale facilities that house more than 100 dogs. He says unscrupulous breeders are out there, and new measures will enhance the SPCA’s enforcement, and allow them to be more proactive.    

“There is always some suggestion we can make, that will help an animal’s life on that day, which is a good thing. The horrific one’s like we’ve seen in the news in the last couple of weeks, that’s not as common, they are out there, and the graphic images that stay with us. Those are the ones that is the focus of this initiative,” says Cst. Kokoska.