Sent Friday January 9th via email:
Hello, I am writing to you following a couple of messages I have left with an employee at the Durham SPCA. They indicated the investigating officer would return my call at the start of the week, but I have not heard back. Just wondering if you can deal with this matter, or refer me to someone else who can help.
I adopted two puppies from a rescue home in Oshawa called "Give A Dog A Second Chance" on Monday December 29th. My two sisters and husband joined me, and we all had an uneasy feeling upon arrival. The bottom floor windows were all boarded up, and the place was a mess. We were brought upstairs where there were three black lab pups in one room and two lab mixes in the other. The two poor lab mixes were cowering in the corner, and we did not see any water out for them. Newspapers were scattered everywhere in filth. Cats were allowed to roam all over. We could all hear large, extremely loud dogs barking in a room below the two lab pups. We felt distressed at this scenerio, and instead of me looking to adopt one dog, we took them both instead.
The woman (Melita) indicated that they had been rescued from a family who could not care for them anymore. She stated they had just arrived the evening before. She gave a IM vaccination herself to each pup in front of us, although we did not see her mix up the vial. We thought it was the Drontal dewormer, since she showed us the bottle. She now states this was the parvo/distemper. She did give me a piece of regular paper with vial stickers for a record. However, she insinuated at the time that a vet had been involved as she gave me a card of a vet office. I paid her $500 for both pups, and she never issued me a receipt. She only wrote this at the bottom of a contract that I signed. I found out that she never checked my references, but did make me fill out an application.
I do not believe she is a registered adoption centre. She used to deal with Petsmart, but she told me that she didn't pay her taxes and that is the reason they refuse to deal with her any longer. I am starting to doubt that is the only reason. Her ad on petfinder is asking for donations, volunteers etc and I hope the money is going only to animal care as she would say it is.
In talking to her about the situation her stories have constantly changed. First about where she rescued them from, their age as being 7 months(stated 9 months on internet), and about another brother that was adopted out. This has all made me doubt that she is even close to a legitimate adoption location.
On Thursday Jan 1st my two pups acquired parvovirus. They have both survived, but now my concern is for any animals that were around at the time that may contract this. As I mentioned cats are wandering around everywhere and all it would take is for them to step in some dog feces to pass it on. She assured me that the three black lab puppies were still there and healthy. She also said she would block off the other room for 6 months to avoid making any other dogs sick in the meantime. She also indicated to me that she breeds a boxer that she has(then later denied it), is this legal??
Due to all of these factors, I am attempting to make a formal complaint. I am hoping that someone will be able to do a random assessment of her home to see that it is not a clean environment for animals. I would also request that someone see if the black labs are still present, and if she has blocked off the parvo infected room like she told me she would. She would also have an email application form from each person that adopted from her with their contact information. Hopefully they could be contacted to notify them to look for any symptoms. I just don't want to see any other animals or families suffer!
Researching the Cruelty to Animals Act I believe you can take action:
Standards of care for keeping cats or dogs for breeding or sale
15.1 (1)
5. Not confine the animal to an enclosure,ii. with unsanitary conditions,
v. together with one or more other animals that may pose a danger to the animal, or
vi. that is in a state of disrepair or that is dangerous to the animal's health or well-being. 2002, c. 27, s. 2.
I have also sent copies of this letter to OSPCA and Toronto Animal Services in the event that you cannot deal with this issue.
Looking forward to hearing from you very soon,
Natalie
Due to confientiality reasons, I will keep parts of the SPCA's response confidential, as well as the investigating officers name private...Here is the meat of the message:
Response Saturday January 10th:
Hello Natalie:
Sorry I haven't got back to you sooner. As you can appreciate since our fire things have been busy and our investigations department has just been able to respond to some calls this past week. I was at Melita's house on January 7th and 10th. Both days I arrived unannounced. I found the conditions acceptable for the animals on both days. I did speak to her about the puppies with parvo. She had rescued the puppies the night before. The room that contained the two puppies has been thoroughly cleaned and is not being used. at all. I did see the dogs and cats in the house. They looked fine. There was food, water and clean cat litter boxes. We have been to Melita's place before although we have not had to issue any animal care orders in the past..
My main thought was "Did we visit the same house?" The SPCA would be my first avenue for complainst, but not my last.
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