The executive director with the East Kootenay Branch of the SPCA wants the City of Cranbrook to reinstate an animal cruelty bylaw provision that was dropped in 2016.
Christy King, who heads up the local SPCA branch, told council that a standards of care for animals provision was stripped out of a bylaw two years ago and asked that it be reinstated.
King said the SPCA only has one special constable to conduct animal cruelty investigations for the entire East Kootenay region but don’t have the resources for ongoing enforcement. Last year, the East Kootenay special constable investigated 370 incidents in the region.
Reinstating the Standards of Care for Animals provision of the bylaw will put on paper what is acceptable and unacceptable, in terms of caring for cats and dogs within the municipality, King said. It also gives bylaw officers the ability to issue fines, she continued.
“I think it’s really important to have that on paper to show the residents of Cranbrook and to other people as well that Cranbrook doesn’t tolerate animal cruelty and neglect and that we want to set a high standard for compassionate animal welfare,” King said.
The SPCA does not have the authority to issue fines, which is why it is important to work alongside municipal bylaw officers, King added.
“It gives the community an extra outlet, an extra place to go if they have concerns about animals in the region,” said King. “We have one constable who is based out of the East Kootenays so depending on how many calls he has open at any given time, it can take him weeks to get to a property and if we have another bylaw officer on the road that can attend quicker than we can, that will just make it a lot safer and better for the animals in our community.”
While the SPCA can’t issue fines, they can seize animals if they are deemed to be in critical distress.
Complicating the issue is funding, as the BC SPCA relies 100 per cent on donations for animal cruelty investigations. The organization does receive some government funding, but that is allocated for capital projects such as building and expanding shelters.
Mayor Lee Pratt noted that what’s written on paper within the bylaw isn’t really an issue; if an animal is in distress, the public can report an incident to bylaw officers.
The city’s animal control officers have the authority to levy fines and deal with animals that are hurt or diseased, according to the Animal Control Bylaw.
Much of the current bylaw — as it relates to dogs and cats — centres on licensing, dangerous dogs or animals running at large, rather than animal cruelty.
“We’re concerned with the safety of the animals in town too, but our bylaw officers don’t have the time or the resources to enforce that stuff,” said Pratt. “Who am I to come knock on your door and say you’re not giving your dog proper potable water? How do I know if it’s potable water or not?
“But certainly what we do know, is if someone phones a complaint in, they [bylaw officers] will go look at it and if it’s something that warrants further action; we don’t have to have it in a bylaw — its common sense. If you’re not looking after your animal, you’re going to be reported for it.”
The SPCA has recently dealt with a case of an injured puppy as Rusty, a shar-pei/Labrador cross, was found on a Forest Service Road near Yahk last week with a chain deeply embedded in his neck.
The surgery needed to treat Rusty ran up to $2,400 bill with a two-month recovery time.
King also noted the success of the SPCA’s spay and neuter program, which treated 750 cats in 2015 after receiving an $84,000 grant from Petsmart.
That has translated into a 16 per cent decrease in cat intake at the BC SPCA facility and a 40 per cent decrease in the stray kitten intake. In addition to the Petsmart funding, the SPCA also received $9,000 from the City of Cranbrook for further spay and neutering, which treated 188 cats and dogs for low-income families.
The East Kootenay Branch of the SPCA has eight full-time staff and over 100 volunteers.