Buttercup needs Surgery and some new purchases

So I've been talking all winter about how bad Buttercup's back legs have been. The whole time I've had her she's had luxating patella in her back legs - her knee caps go in and out - but I've always been able to control it through lots of exercise - by giving her a big dog lifestyle since I've had Charlie and Daisy - we've always gone for long walks and had tons of exercise. But last winter was the first year that she started to show signs that her legs were beginning to be less than perfect - and this year they got even worse. She's at least 12 years old now, and I guess I've always known in the back of my mind that I'd have to deal with it at some point.

When I first got her in 2003 - her luxating patella was really bad, but it got better - and she's always seemed to get younger the longer I've had her - but now she's seemed to get old just all of the sudden and it's awful. My life completely revolves around her - as I'm sure a lot of you who read this blog have dogs you feel the same about. I say that "all light from the universe shines from Buttercup's asshole" - because it does.

And on April 10th she's going to have to undergo anaesthesia to have her left leg operated on - Dr. Eric Carnegy is going to do the surgery - he says they dig into the knee socket and tighten up the tendons, and hopefully that will do the trick. I took her to the vet today because I got all freaked out on the weekend - I could feel a bone on her hip - and it turns out it is her pelvic bone because her muscles have atrophied so badly.

Buttercup is such a trooper though - she's continued to put up with me exercising her, even though Carnegy says that her knees are completely out of their sockets all the time - they can't stay in at all. It's probably only the Metacam - an analgesic - that's been keeping her going - and I ran out of it last week - so that's why she went completely downhill in the last week. This weekend she didn't want to walk at all and wasn't using her left leg at all. It was awful. It is so awful getting old - but I figure that little dogs don't really get old until they're 17 or 18 - so she's got at LEAST 5 or 6 more good years left, AT LEAST.

I tried everything else, physiotherapy, seacure, glucosamine & chondroitin, apple cider vinegar, metacam, coq10, NRG dog food, every different dog food, recreational dog bones - now it's only surgery left.

So I bought a new bag - see below - to carry her around in for the next little while - I bought some other things last week too -

This is Charlie and Buttercup playing a bit tonight to show off a new shirt that I bought last week at Naughty Dog and Glamour Puss - it says "Purebred Princess" - we won't tell anyone that Buttercup's not really purebred.
More playing
This is the bag I bought - out at Four Feet on the Ground - I've decided to lessen my stance on them - I've said I wouldn't shop in there because they have a huge sign that says "No dogs Allowed in store" - but it seems that dogs you can carry in there are allowed - because I've been able to take Buttercup in there several times now, and if you're a patient of the clinic you get a 15% discount. Right now all their coats are 50% off - and they've got some really nice ones too. Buttercup here is telling Jack - "Keep on moving - there's nothing here to see!"
I've had to put carpets down everywhere in the house because with Buttercup's bad legs she can't grip anything - and I saw this little bone shaped rug at Naughty Dog last week and I HAD to buy it - isn't it cute!
And there's been some competition for the dog bed under the computer table - so I went to Wicker Emporium and bought a wicker basket and put some dollar store blankets in it - it fits the dogs perfectly! And it's a lot cheaper than a pet store dog bed!

Where we were for Earth Hour 2008

So our little family took part in Earth Hour 2008 here in Halifax, Nova Scotia - we turned all our lights off and any extra electricity I could think of, although I have to admit I didn't turn off my router, so I could still get my emails if I so chose to check in on them, which I don't think I did anyway.
I'd say this is a pretty usual place for us on Saturday night anyway, I'm a pretty lazy person with not much to do - except instead of a couple lamps on - I just had a couple candles on. The only ones who probably noticed anything was amiss was the fishes who had their tank lights turned off for the hour, I don't know if they were pissed off - do you think they noticed?
It didn't affect Daisy too much, but maybe it'll help us all in the long run.
And it didn't bother Jack too much - all he cares about is when his next treat is coming - he's looking at me here going - "I've been standing in the kitchen for like 5 minutes waiting for you to give me a treat - WHERE have you been!"

Bylaw A300 HAS Been Passed with all it's horribleness!

I always read the Municipal notices in the Saturday Chronicle Herald since I watch the HRM City Council on tv on Tuesday nights - I usually recognize what the notices are about - so I was stung this morning when I read the attached notice - Bylaw A300 HAS actually finally passed - WITH the cats in the bylaw, and most of the horrible things in it that people didn't want.

All a dog has to do to attack another dog or a human is to "appear threatening", a dangerous dog can be a dangerous dog simply because of the way it looks now; you ARE allowed to trap your neighbours cat if it shows up on your property - just about the only good thing that's changed is that prohibited animals owned within 90 days of the implementation of the bylaw and that are microchipped are grandfathered in - so people who own them already are allowed to keep them - they don't have to turn them over to have them killed.

It's nice to see that the HRM City Council - behind closed doors - was listening to their constituents - on both sides of the debate. For shame.

It takes effect April 1st, 2008 - you can read it in all it's glory at http://www.halifax.ca/legislation/bylaws/hrm/documents/By-LawA-300.pdf

FINALLY! Oprah is doing a show about Puppy mills!

Well it's finally going to happen - on Friday April 4th, 2008 - Oprah is going to do a show about puppy mills - she says on her website: Animal lovers, unite! Lisa Ling investigates the hidden world of puppy mills. If you can't watch on Friday, record it…because you truly have to see this for yourself.

Dog advocates have been begging her for years to expose this world for years about where all the puppies actually come from that are so cute and lovely that are in the pet stores across North America - and hopefully on Friday some people are going to have their eyes open - because as Oprah herself loves to say "once you've seen something - you can't deny that you've seen it - you can't turn away".

The email that I got said that a group had funded to have a huge billboard near Oprah's studio put up "begging" Oprah to do a show on puppy mills - maybe that was the final impetus she needed. Whatever it was - I'm glad she's finally done it.


I fostered a bouvier named Ebony who most probably lived her life in a puppy mill situation - and her body showed the scars of it. Her mind however continued to be beautiful - and she was an amazing dog. No living, breathing animal deserves to exist in conditions like what human beings put dogs through in puppy mills - and if you don't think they exist here in Nova Scotia, PEI and New Brunswick - think again.

Any where that government's don't care enough about our companion animals that they're willing to have laws that don't take their well-being into consideration - puppy mills are going to exist - and that most definitely includes our 3 fair provinces currently. There is less legislation in place to protect dogs than there is cows and chickens when it comes to living conditions. Good for the cows and chickens - bad for the dogs.

So watch Oprah on Friday and see what they say. Hopefully Oprah will learn something.

Cruelty Charges laid in Celtic Pets Case today

So today cruelty charges were laid in the Celtic Pets case - 4 charges each against Zonda MacIsaac and Alice MacIsaac. The evening news reports are below.

It looks like the NS SPCA is saying that between January and February 2008 that Zonda and Alice willfully neglected the animals in their care and they're charging them under the criminal code of Canada for it.

I love in the news piece how Judith Gass goes on about that the seizure:

"We did a great job on this. I think we did an excellent job, we did a job that we were asked to do on under the Act, we're asked to work this... we're asked to work if we get a complaint, we're asked to work with this person, we have worked with this person, uh we worked very hard, we would have moved heaven and earth to resolve this situation..."

I should say though that she said this on March 14th (the line above her head says "February 7th" - I think Elizabeth Chiu's editors got their dates mixed up - Judith Gass is wearing the same clothes and petting the same cat that she was petting the day she was interviewed for my news piece about my letter from the SPCA - which was March 14th, 2008) - and it's also interesting that today they're giving her the title of "NS SPCA Investigations Chair" - she's not a "Spokesperson" for the NS SPCA today. For all of you who are keeping track - isn't that interesting?

Anyway - here's the news piece:



Friday evening the Chronicle Herald posted an article stating what the charges are (it's interesting that so far they are only served with a summons):

Mother, daughter charged in animal cruelty case

By The Canadian Press
Fri. Mar 28 - 8:05 PM

PORT HAWKESBURY _ Charges have been laid against a mother and daughter in Cape Breton in connection with a highly publicized case of animal cruelty.

The charges follow the seizure last month of dozens of cats and dogs found soaked in urine and covered in their own feces.

The accused are Zonda Lee MacIsaac, owner of Celtic Pets Rescue, and her mother Alice MacIsaac, a former SPCA special constable.

They are each facing four counts _ two under the Criminal Code and two under the Animal Cruelty Act.

The charges are wilfully permitting unnecessary pain and suffering to animals; having care of domestic animals and failing to provide proper care by providing food, water and shelter; allowing an animal to be in distress; and wilfully causing pain to an animal.

The charges against the elder MacIsaac relate to 24 dogs and one cat, while the charges against Zonda MacIsaac relate to 27 dogs and pups and 78 cats.

The two women were served with a summons Friday and are scheduled to be formally arraigned on the charges during a provincial court appearance May 21.

An animal shelter was raided Feb. 2 and 105 animals were removed.

Days later, an additional 25 animals, believed to be overflow from the shelter, were seized from a home in a Port Hawkesbury subdivision.

Several cats have been euthanized due to sickness and others continue to recover from respiratory illnesses.

Most of the cats were found in a sewage-filled basement, covered in so much fecal matter that some had to be shaved.

Local Dog Trainer's book is mentioned in Modern Dog Magazine!!

I don't know if you know it, but we are really blessed to have a super dog trainer who's moved to our province in the last couple of years. Her name is Silvia Jay and she lives up in the Truro area.

I first became aware of her a couple months ago when she emailed me about my Charlie loves Halifax website, and when I went and looked at her website and read about her dog training philosophy, I was blown away. All the stuff she says makes so much sense and is so on top of what the best trainers in the positive dog training movement are espousing that I couldn't quite believe what I was reading - so I passed her name and website onto my friend who I also believe is a top notch dog trainer - who I don't think anybody in our town will disagree with me on this - Adina MacRae - and she came back to me and said - SHE was ALSO blown away by this lady!

So we have a hidden gem living up in Truro - who will come down and share her services in the Metro area - but that is not what this post is about - it's about a book that she's written called "Dump Dog"(and of which I ordered a copy for myself this morning so I could beat the rush - haha!) that has gotten a mention in the current issue of Modern Dog Magazine! It's about a dog that Silvia found and was able to rehabilitate with her own special brand of training and pure love - which is the best kind of training I think. I am SO looking forward to getting my copy of her book.

On her website she has got free articles - and I was reading some of them - there is an AWESOME article about walking your dog that I think everyone should read - it's at http://www.dogsensecommunications.com/dog-walk.html and it's one of the best things I've read in a long time.

Congratulations Silvia! We are so lucky to have you here!

Jack's first trip to Point Pleasant Park!

Me and the little dogs - when Teddy was alive it was Teddy and Buttercup - used to go to Point Pleasant Park before 10am every weekend to walk along the waterfront. It was a great time to let the little dogs be little dogs and let them rule their world, but once Teddy died it wasn't any fun anymore, so I stopped going. But today I took Jack and Buttercup down for the first time and we had a great time. Jack did super and seemed to really enjoy himself - and Buttercup had a ball - she seemed to be back to her old self again.Jack here is trying to decide what to do with Spike - this is the first dog he encountered when we arrived at the park - so maybe he's trying to figure out what everything's about at this point.
Running and having FUN!
And then we encountered Dana and her little dog Toby - every dog is obsessed with 3 pound Toby - and Jack was no different!
"Toby, you smell like heaven!"
"But you're a boy, just like me! Oh well!"
This is Shane the grey-hound who is a regular at Point Pleasant Park coming in for a treat. I've heard he's not a grey-hound, he's really a treat-hound!

All in all it was quite a successful morning and I'd say we'll be starting to go back regularly now! Yea!

Continuing on the Cartoon Jag

I put up some funny cartoons a couple weeks ago - and I got some more today - and I had to put this one up, the face of this cat just GOT me. I swear Buttercup gives me this face every time I give her a bath - I'm sure every one of us has seen this face on our own companion animals at one time or another - it's so PRECIOUS!

Some very cute shots of Buttercup and Jack

My camera can take up to 6.5 shots per second and today I used that function for the first time - of Buttercup and Jack running towards me, and I think it was to great effect (in my own dog obsessed mind) - so I created a short slide show - these pictures took only about 2 seconds worth of time in real time, but of course a little bit longer than that for me to re-create.


Jack finished his part off with a nice flourish I thought. He figured he was going to get a nice liver treat at the end.

And I figured something out today regarding Buttercup's very bad back legs - of which I've been struggling with all winter - the longer the walk, the better they are! I've been taking her on short walks figuring that if I took her on short walks every day that would be better for her - but today we went for a very long walk and about 1/2 way through - when normally I'd be picking her up and we'd be heading back to the car, her confirmation straightened out and she was doing fabulously. So I think the key really is - a LOT of exercise is going to cure her awful luxating patella and atrophied muscles. That will be music to the ears of the big dogs.

Here's the slide show:

IS the NS SPCA Dartmouth shelter the new PETA?

How is that for a title to a post? I've named it that way, because maybe it's true. I found an article from last July in the Metro Daily News that talks about how the Dartmouth shelter will come to your neighbourhood upon your request and trap your feral cats - and then immediately KILL THEM ALL. Read below for confirmation of that - "Any feral cats - which often run in groups as large as 20 - that are trapped are immediately euthanized, (Judith)Gass said"

I would like to submit that this is not what current literature on trap, neuter, and release of feral cats suggests - but it IS something that organizations like PETA - who don't think that companion animals should exist - do exercise.

This has to be the laziest incidence of animal management that I have ever encountered in all my years of researching, volunteering, and taking part in the animal advocate community.

Scrolling down the list of comments though - one name popped up that was VERY interesting - I'm not going to say WHO it is - but it's a current (as of Marc 22, 2008) Board of Director of the NS SPCA - who left the following comment on this article - it's VERY good!:

The best solution to preventing any disease is education. Trapping and euthanizing is not the answer. Our family was horrified that a humane society would even suggest that. I'm sure if the SPCA advertised that they were trapping, neutering and releasing cats the public would be much more supportive with fund raising and volunteering. Queens SPCA has a very aggressive spay/neuter program and it has made a tremendous difference in the number of feral cats in our area.

Another commenter left a link to an EXCELLENT website - it's http://www.alleycat.org/

Luckily as well - someone left 2 comments to this post - talking about a lady, Angela Miller (who I met last year when a group of us formed a group called Advocates for Responsible Pet Ownership in the HRM to target pet stores around Christmas time in 2006) - who has started to deal with the stray feral cat problem in the HRM on her own - check out the comments to see the local news storys about her.
What do you think?

Here is the article:

SPCA targets feral cats
Trapping program aims to stomp out breathing illness

SKANA GEE
The Daily News

The SPCA is being extra diligent about trapping wild cats roaming city streets, due to health concerns.

"This year, there's a terrible strain of upper respiratory (illness)," provincial president Judith Gass said.

"One of the reasons we're perhaps responding more to the feral colonies is because we think it's infecting the regular population, and we're pretty frustrated, because we're not being terribly successful treating this."

Many house pets venture outside, mingling with strays and - if they're not vaccinated - putting themselves at risk, Gass said.

She said the SPCA responds to hundreds of calls about feral cats each year, many from people who have tried unsuccessfully to feed and tend to the animals.

The latest call came from the Myrtle Street area of Dartmouth, where trapping will be attempted next week.

Residents are learning about the program from signs on telephone poles in the neighbourhood.

One, at the corner of Maple and Dahlia streets, features a photo of several cats and the heading Lets (sic) Solve Our Cat Problem.

"The SPCA will be trapping cats in our area during the week of July 30-Aug. 3 so cat owners can you try and keep your cats in or have their ID tags on their collars if they're out," it says.

While the wild cats are usually easy to recognize because of their aggressiveness, the SPCA often asks complainants to post "courtesy" signs so pets won't mistakenly be caught in the cage-like traps, said Gass.

Any feral cats - which often run in groups as large as 20 - that are trapped are immediately euthanized, Gass said, who owns two formerly wild ones.

That may help stem the respiratory-illness tide, which has prompted the SPCA to isolate more than 40 affected cats and kittens in a rented space in Cole Harbour.

Happy Easter!

I have got the most indulgent little dogs in the world, especially when it comes to laying on the bed and playing with toys - so I picked out Easter themed toys and took some pictures - and here we have a Happy Easter photo spread! So Happy Easter from the little dogs! The big dogs would've joined in but the little dogs don't like to share. They are of course the master of all they survey when it comes to toys, treats, bed space, humans, couches, food.... you get the picture.

New Brunswick SPCA's and their shelters seem to be doing things right!

I think anyone who has heard the story about the "breeder" of the pomeranians who didn't want to give up his dogs and instead smashed their heads with a hammer and tried to kill them all instead of giving them up to the New Brunswick SPCA officer a few week's ago is incredulous #1 that anyone could inflict such cruelty on another living thing, and #2 that any animal could live through such abuse.

But live through it he did - and it looks like a 9 year old dog named Ronald might have some quality of life after all. This photo shows Ronald with the manager of the Oromocto SPCA shelter who took in the 8 dogs after they were rescued from the place that they had been living previously - I'm going to post the article below so that you can read the tragic story. This post is about that story and a couple other things I wanted to point out about New Brunswick as opposed to Nova Scotia.

#1 is that the New Brunswick SPCA seems to actually treat their shelters like SHELTERS for their animals. In conversation with Tracy (the manager of the Oromocto shelter) - when they took in those 8 little dogs from the seizure - what did they do with those dogs? They immediately sent them out to foster homes! Can you imagine! Can you think of all the exposure those little dogs must be getting from the local media up there - potentially ruining any hope for conviction in a possible cruelty charge! Oh, I'm sorry - I'm talking such nonsense...

Another thing that I love about the Oromocto SPCA shelter is the fact that they only have seven cages anyway - but what they DO have is twenty-two foster homes - now that's the kind of odds I love to hear - usually "shelters" stats are the other way - lots of cages and no foster homes.

Another fabulous shelter in New Brunswick is Fredericton - they have got a fabulous system set up there too - and I've been getting their newsletter for the last couple years - and they really care about the animals there too. And one of the major volunteers for that shelter has just moved to the HRM - and has just recently become a Board of Directors volunteer for the NS SPCA - I hope that if there is a shake up that she doesn't become disillusioned and leave at this critical time in the NS SPCA's history - because the animals in Nova Scotia are going to need people like her more than ever.

I noticed that on the BOD of the Fredericton SPCA was a lady who worked on a project that the NB SPCA did a couple years ago on chained dogs which got a lot of press and that I got contacted about since I do stuff with Dogs Deserve Better - I remember that it was a really fabulous educational initiative - I have never seen the NS SPCA initiate anything educationally on their own - there was the Porkpie Hat commercials a couple years ago - but I think it was the marketing company who started that, not the NS SPCA.

Another thing that intrigued me about the article about the pomeranians came when I read a really short article about the bust:

Decision awaited on cruelty charges

OROMOCTO - The New Brunswick SPCA will present its investigation into a case of animal cruelty in Minto to the Crown this week. SPCA officers seized eight dogs from a Minto home on March 6. They include a nine-year-old Pomeranian that had suffered a fractured skull from a blow to the head and a newborn puppy that has since died. Many had few teeth, and some were very thin, said Oromoto and area SPCA supervisor Tracy Marcotullio. Five dogs were killed by blunt force trauma before SPCA officers could rescue them. A decision has yet to be made on criminal charges.

What that article says is that the bust happened on March 6th - today is March 19th - and the NB SPCA has already gotten the charges all together and ready to go to the crown. Certainly there weren't 130 animals - but there were quite a few animals, and almost all of them were in very bad condition - a lot worse than any of the Celtic Pets animals.

And last, but not least in this rant comparing Nova Scotia to New Brunswick is BSL - breed specific legislation - and maybe this is the most important, and most timely.

The government of New Brunswick very sagely held public hearings about whether to enact BSL on a province wide basis a couple years ago - and people came from across Canada to give their views and submit their opinions - even I sent a letter (and got a reply back from the Minister in charge of the review no less!) - and the government decided to NOT enact breed specific legislation - showing the world that this end of the country understands that all dogs are the same - and it's the owner and not the dog who is the problem.

This spring - the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities, headed by the idiotic Lloyd Hines - of the municipality of Guysborough - are convening to try to figure out how to implement breed restrictions THROUGHOUT the province of Nova Scotia - from one end right through to the other. That's what they want, and they're going to get it done. Starting in May, 2008. So heads up people. Nova Scotia is tumbling down into a crevasse of dog hating, can't take your dog anywhere, the idiots are winning wonderland.

It looks like New Brunswick is becoming the new Shangri-la - Mary - you're going to wish you'd never left Fredericton!

Here's the article about those sad little pomeranians:

Charges expected in animal-abuse case

Ronald is defying the odds and is continuing to recover from a traumatic blow to the head that left him with a fractured skull.

The nine-year-old Pomeranian was one of eight dogs rescued March 6 by New Brunswick SPCA officers from a home in Minto.

Five others were killed by what the SPCA described as "blunt-force trauma" before they could be taken to safety.

Among those left for dead was Ronald.

Tracy Marcotullio, a supervisor with the Oromocto and area SPCA, said the tiny dog is showing remarkable signs of recovery.

"He's done quite well," Marcotullio said Monday. "When he came in, he couldn't stand. He would just flop over.

"When we did the X-ray and realized he had a skull fracture, it kind of all made sense."

The good news is that Ronald is eating, can stand and walk a few steps, she said.

"He is certainly not out of the woods," Marcotullio said. "It's still iffy. When you look at the X-ray, you can see where the blunt-force trauma was and where his skull is actually separated.''

She said it's a serious injury.

"He's doing really well, but we never say anything is fine because we have never really dealt with this situation before."

Ronald may be facing surgery, depending on his recovery.

The incident in which Ronald was injured and the other dogs killed is under investigation by both the New Brunswick SPCA and District 2 RCMP.

Sgt. Ken Goodine said police are in the final stages of putting evidence together and will be submitting their findings soon to the Crown prosecutor's office in Burton, where the final decision on a charge or charges will be made.

"The evidence will be presented to the Crown this week," Goodine said Monday. "The investigation has been pretty well pulled together."

Paul Melanson, chief inspector with the New Brunswick SPCA, said his organization will be meeting soon with the RCMP. He said the N.B. SPCA Act allows his organization to file its own charges, but no decision has been made yet.

Marcotullio said there were eight dogs seized from the Minto location that day. Of those animals, a newborn puppy has since passed away, leaving seven.

One of the dogs will have to have a limb amputated because of "an old broken leg" that was never set properly. It dangles separately from the bone it should be attached to.

Another Pomeranian will have to have surgery on its kneecap.

"Many of them have few, if any, teeth," Marcotullio said. "Quite a few of them were very thin when they came in because, we assume, (they) were being fed large pieces of food that they can't eat. We have them on a diet of very small kibble and canned food."

The seized dogs range in age from the newborn to five months -- with the oldest, Ronald, being between the age of nine and 10.

All of the seized dogs are in foster care because they aren't ready for adoption yet. Several Oromocto SPCA staff members are participating in caring for the animals, with Ronald falling under the personal care of an area veterinarian.

Marcotullio said she and her staff have seen many things over the years, but this incident has left them shaken.

"This particular one was disturbing in its own right, just because of the nature of what it was," Marcotullio said. "I've been doing this for 10 years and we've have seen some really bad things, but this tops it. We've had animals that were maybe in worse shape, but this has been so brutal.

"The brutality of what happened that day, is inexplicable."

Me and the dogs on "Living Halifax"

I personally finally got around to watching myself on an episode of the CBC Television show "Living Halifax" that me, Charlie and Buttercup were on that aired February 14th - it was filmed in January, and then shown on Valentines Day.


They had asked me to take them around to the new off leash dog parks around the HRM - which is what we did. In case you missed it, you can see it below, in all it's very rough glory as photographed by me. Unfortunately it's not still in the archives at the Living Halifax archive - so this is the only place you can still see it...

Buttercup says "Happy St. Patrick's Day"

Buttercup says she'd like to eat some St. Patrick's Day Lamb today!

Snowstorms are fun

Snow storms are fun to run around in while you're out there in them

But I think the dogs also like going home afterwards and getting out of the cold...

We now interrupt our regularly scheduled programming for...

I was contacted today by CTV news because someone must have told them about my blog post about having my membership to the NS SPCA reviewed. And I'd like to point that out - I did NOT contact CTV - they contacted ME. In the news report Judith Gass makes it sound like I contacted the media - it was the other way around - and there were a ton of questions that the reporter asked me that I said - "I'd like to not answer that question if that's okay" - I only wanted to talk about the topic at hand - my blog post - not about all the other stuff that's been going on in the message boards and other vitriole flying around about the Executive of the NS SPCA.


Which is another thing I'd like to talk about for a second if you will humour me. I guess one of the problems with having a blog - a website where I post to almost every day with the goings on of my dogs and me and the things that happen to us - is that people start to think that they actually KNOW me, and can make judgments on my character. That they can somehow DEFINE me, put me into a slot, and feel comfortable leaving me there so that THEY can feel comfortable when DEALING WITH ME. But I'd like to say to that - defining a human being is a little bit harder than that. You can't define a person based on one aspect of their character. And there may be a lot of people who share the same qualities of character - but there are a million different SHADES of that character type - so it's impossible to pigeon-hole anybody. So if you are a person who thinks you KNOW me, and that you've been forced to DEAL with me in some way - I am here to tell you - that you have given yourself any unncessary job. My dogs take quite good care of me, as you can tell from this blog. At least that part of the blog is truthful.

So on to the video portion of this post - CTV contacted me today to talk about my post that I made my membership being in jeopardy, which is weird, seeing as how the NS SPCA is currently having a membership drive - below is the news portion that was on CTV tonight - I hope you enjoy it!

At least 40 dogs found dead, dying at shelter

Now why is Kentucky different than Nova Scotia? Why are charges filed already? Why is this shelter different than the shelter here in Nova Scotia?

At least 40 dogs found dead, dying at shelter
DISEASE, WOUNDS, STARVATION REPORTED
Police raided an animal shelter in rural Jackson County on Tuesday, finding more than 115 dogs in horrific conditions -- at least 40 of them dead or dying.

Officers said the dogs suffered all manner of abuse, including starvation, untreated disease and wounds inflicted by other dogs.

"There were a couple of small puppies that just fell over dead while we were standing there. I think I'm gonna have nightmares about this," said Greg Hayes, Jackson County emergency management director.

"There were sick dogs, dogs eating dead dogs, dogs dead and frozen in bags in the freezer in the basement," Hayes said. "It was indescribable. I've never seen anything like it in my life."

Jackson County Sheriff Ted Fee said he charged Timothy Foust, 32, and Shawn Embs, 18, with 117 counts each of animal cruelty. They were taken to the Jackson County jail and held on $10,000 cash bonds. Fee said he plans to charge Foust's wife, Aimee Robbins-Foust, on the same counts, but she was at the hospital Tuesday with a sick child, so she will be allowed to surrender to police.

The shelter -- actually a house with outside kennels in Sand Springs north of McKee -- is known as Animal Assist. Aimee Robbins-Foust and two other women established the shelter in December, according to state records. On its Web site, Animal Assist claims to be staffed by volunteers and funded by donations, which it solicited online.

Many of Animal Assist's dogs were taken from other shelters shortly before they were scheduled to be euthanized, according to the Web site.

"If you don't find your perfect match at your local shelter, know that adopting or rescuing animals from Animal Assist makes room for us to take in other abandoned shelter pets who didn't find their right fit in five to seven days," the Web site states.

By Tuesday night, officials said they had retrieved about 75 living dogs from the shelter and would deal with about 40 dead dogs. The living dogs were taken to Gray Hawk Veterinary Clinic, also in Jackson County, for medical attention and temporary holding space.

"They're going to need a lot of dog food and monetary donations, and of course, people to adopt some of these dogs once they're checked out as healthy," said Shelley Thompson, a vet clinic customer who volunteered to answer the phone Tuesday while the besieged staff handled the new arrivals.

Fee said he got a tip that dogs were abused at the shelter. By the end of the day, he and his deputies had been joined by Kentucky State Police, Jackson County constables, the McKee Fire Department and the Jackson County Board of Health, among other agencies. Some officers donned hazardous-material suits before they went into the basement, which was full of filth, feces, murky liquid and more than a dozen dogs.

Fee said he has plenty of questions for Embs and the Fousts about the shelter and how it went so terribly wrong. For one thing, he said, nobody has been able to produce a kennel license. But so far the sheriff's attention has been focused on recovering and moving dogs.

"I guess they had intentions of doing something right, but in my opinion, they wound up with more than they could care for," Fee said. "They just didn't have the money or the space they needed. It just went bad, really bad."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


117 starving, diseased dogs found in shelter raidOfficial in Kentucky: ‘I think I'm gonna have nightmares about this’

SAND SPRINGS, Ky. - Police found 117 starving and diseased dogs — including about 40 that were dead or dying — during a raid at an eastern Kentucky animal shelter.

Some officers donned hazardous-material suits Tuesday before they went into the basement, which was full of filth, feces, murky liquid and more than a dozen dogs.

"There were a couple of small puppies that just fell over dead while we were standing there. I think I'm gonna have nightmares about this," said Greg Hayes, Jackson County emergency management director.

Officials said they retrieved about 75 living dogs from the shelter and would deal with about 40 dead dogs. The living dogs were taken to a veterinary clinic in Jackson County for medical attention and temporary holding space.

Timothy Foust, 32, and Shawn Embs, 18, were each charged with 117 counts of animal cruelty. It was not clear whether the men had attorneys. The Jackson County Jail did not immediately return a message to The Associated Press.

Jackson County Sheriff Ted Fee said he plans to charge Foust's wife, Aimee Robbins-Foust, on the same counts.

Fee said no one associated with the Animal Assist facility in Sand Springs has been able to produce a kennel license. Robbins-Foust and two other women set up the shelter in December, state records show.

"I guess they had intentions of doing something right, but in my opinion, they wound up with more than they could care for," Fee said. "They just didn't have the money or the space they needed. It just went bad, really bad."

Casper and Pumpkin need a new home!

I had an email today from my friend Maureen who works over at Camp Bow Wow - the photos in this post are of 2 collies named Casper and Pumpkin
Casper and Pumpkin have been staying at Camp Bow Wow for the last little while being fostered there because their owner was ill - but now it's become apparent that the owner is NOT going to be able to take them back - so these guys need a new home.
Casper and Pumpkin are pure bred "sable white face" collies - John the owner says - about them - Casper (“Cassie”)- Neutered Male 6 years old in excellent health and Pumpkin is a Spayed Female 10 years old in good health they are very well behaved, affectionate souls that come from a caring environment.
The hope of course is to keep them together - because that's how they've spent the last 6 years, but if worse comes to worse they can be separated. You can find out more about them on their own web page on the Camp Dog Website and you can also call Camp Bow Wow at 902-431-3647
These are some photos of the Camp Bow Wow environment - it looks to me like it's a pretty fun place to go!
Camp Bow Wow is great for everyone - they're always doing stuff for local rescues - they even volunteered to take any of the Celtic Pets seized dogs as foster dogs in their doggy day care - regardless of breed - they wanted to help the NS SPCA in whatever capacity they could. So hopefully whenever the SPCA gets around to letting the dogs out from wherever they are - they will take Camp Bow Wow up on that exceptional offer - can you imagine going from solitary confinement of a cage to this kind of doggy shangri-la? I think it would be fabulous for the dog kind of dog who could handle it.
I have Camp Bow Wow listed on the doggy day care page of my Resources section on my Charlie loves Halifax website - I'd say they've shaped up to be the doggy day care to beat in the HRM currently - Kathleen Duffy's Tailwaggrrr's is going to have to work pretty hard! haha!

What do YOU think + Some other stuff...

I mentioned in a previous post about how I'd gone and renewed my membership at the NS SPCA because they were having a big membership drive - so I went to the Provincial headquarters and paid for my membership in person and paid cash - which they accepted and gave me a receipt for. That was on February 25, 2008 - and the below noted letter and membership card is dated February 29, 2008 - which is the beginning of the weirdness.

What the letter actually says is the continuation of the weirdness. So I'm posting it here to see what people think. One would think that when one buys their membership to an organization, receives a receipt for that membership, then gets the MEMBERSHIP CARD in the mail (see below), and a letter stating that they're receiving their membership card (see below) - that they're now a member of that organization.

But if you read further in the letter - it says "Youre application for membership will be presented and reviewed at the next Board meeting, as per our Constitution and By-Laws. The NS SPCA COntitution states..." - and you can read further in the letter to read further.

The reason why they're saying this is that they can deny a person's membership - according to the NS SPCA's bylaws and constitution if a member:

12(b) Cause as reffered to in paragraph 12(a) is intended to mean a person who in the opinion of the Board is no longer supportive of the objects of the Society, or in the opionion of the BOard is so critical of the Society itself, andor the work being performed by the Society, as to have become an adversary to the Society.

It's that section that on the March 31st Board of Director's meeting - they're going to go over the membership list of everyone who's bought memberships - and if they think there's any troublemakers - they're going to boot them out based on that clause in the bylaws. So they're sending out this letter to everybody who's bought a membership saying that they're actuall "not" members yet.

Has anybody heard of this in any other organization? Any other charitable society? Anybody? Amy I being critical of the Society enough here that I'm going to be booted out March 31st? All I'm doing in here and in my previous posts are asking questions, that's all. I'm just writing out sentences ending in question marks.

I've got tons of other posts that are positive about the NS SPCA as well - maybe I should post those links as well - go to an SPCA Fund raiser that was at Yuk Yuk's - there's pictures of lots of people at the 2006 SPCA AGM here - I'm sure people will recognize the dogs and people in my post about the 4th Cause for a Paws and from last year's dog jog at Point Pleasant Park, which has photos from like the last FIVE dog jogs - because I've been to THEM ALL. Sp you CAN'T SAY that I'm not a big supporter of the NS SPCA. I just unfortunately am one of those people who has a mind of my own.

So let me know what YOU think about this letter - and whether you think it's some heavy handedness on the part of the Provincial branch of the NS SPCA...






This is me being slightly lazy by putting these super cute photos of Jack in the same post - but it would appear that Jack loves his recreational meaty bones. I guess there's nothing like having to compete for your food with tons of other dogs to make you love your raw meat.
There was NO way he was going to give up this bone today - so I gave him one of the big dog bones.
He chewed on that thing for a couple hours. If he had black teeth - I'd bet they're a slight colour of grey now. Or a couple of them fell out - either way - his teeth are probably quite a bit different than when he started chewing on that behoemoth! haha!
These are some photos that I took on the weekend - his first off leash walk - and Jack did super.



This is the first official portrait of all 4 dogs together in one photo - the continuing power of the everlasting liver. That dehydrated liver can compel dogs to do just about anything - including standing still crunched together for literally seconds at a time! haha!
The only wet part of the whole part was when I totally fell down in a huge pile of mud - I even had mud in the crack of my ass - Jack and Buttercup were completely unwilling to walk through a big river of mud - so I had to carry them over it (one at a time of course - so I had to go through it 3 times, which I'll explain) - but when I was carrying Jack over - I fell down, and he scampered back to the other side where we began - so I had to go get Buttercup, carry her back - and we went back from where we started. I wasn't very amused at that point. I was wet and cold. I don't fall down very often - but why do I have to fall down in a pool of mud?
Another photo of Jack running towards me!

Hopefully a new Regime will do something about the Cape Breton SPCA

There was an article in the Cape Breton Post on Friday about feral cats in Sydney - and part of the article posted how many animals went INTO the Cape Breton SPCA in January and February, and also how many animals made their way OUT OF the SPCA ALIVE - and the numbers are staggering - 499 animals went into the shelter and only 99 animals were adopted out. If you do the math - thats a 75% kill rate. How can that be happening in today's society anywhere in Nova Scotia. How can anyone within the NS SPCA be allowing that to happen? And at the same time - they only have SIX animals listed on their Petfinder site - how is THAT possible?

That is quite a question to be asking don't you think? Perhaps you should be asking that of the people in charge at the NS SPCA. And perhaps you should be asking anyone who WANTS to be in charge of the NS SPCA what they are going to do about it, should they find themselves in charge. Because a 75% kill rate is completely unacceptable in anyone's books I'd say.

Disgusting, as far as I'm concerned. And I've had a disgusting day today from beginning to end - I have completely lost faith in any part of the NS SPCA - including in the people who think they are going to be able to fix it - they are just as corrupt and full of lies as the current regime. It's all bad - from beginning to end. It just goes to show you that all politics is corrupt. Power corrupts - and absolute power absolutely corrupts. Pathetic.

Wonderful, Juicy Staff going on over at Kijiji

A post over at Kijiji got me fired up tonight and I had to respond to it - someone named "Karen" has made a couple posts to a thread that I've mentioned before called "Follow up: An Urgent Plea for Celtic Pets" - she calls herself a volunteer for the NS SPCA, and a person who works in the legal field - her posts start on page 26 of the topic - and they got me going enough that I had to make a reply. She is saying exactly what I had expected someone to start implying any day now - that any charges brought against the MacIsaac's are going to be thrown out because the public's dealing with the case has tainted the evidence in the eyes of the law - and because of that - any reasons that the MacIsaac's might have had to keep the Executive of the NS SPCA at bay (and away from the secret of their "shelter) - will forever be kept neatly in the back pocket of those people who didn't want the information to get out. And it's not the fault of the people who "only had the interest of the animals at heart" - they went down and seized the animals and took them out of harm's way" - after taking 5 months to investigate and get a warrant - it's not their fault that they couldn't make the charges stick. They did everything by the book. They can't help it if now they will accidentally benefit by the fact that no charges will come to the MacIsaac's and no bad information comes to light about the individuals at the top of the NS SPCA (this of course is all reverie from my own imagination - I am only dreaming here - there are no facts at all in this post - I am only hyperbolizing)

According to Karen at Kijiji - the public is to blame - all the people who have been doing the cat cuddling and then having the audacity to talk about it - they're the ones to blame if no charges are ever brought against the MacIsaac's. Shame on those horrible volunteers. What were they thinking. Check out the hyperlinks I provided in this post if you'd like to read further....

Jack's first walk in the woods and "On God and Dogs"

It looks like spring may be officially upon us here in the HRM. It was such a nice warm day here that I couldn't put off going into the woods any longer, I had to take the dogs out. I'd been putting it off because of the problems Buttercup's been having with her back legs and Jack's soft as a baby's bum paw pads and his blindness - but out today we went - it's not like we can't ever go to the woods ever again - we have to go sometime. No one is going away after all.
Every one did really well - I had to keep popping Buttercup's knees back into their joints - but since the time's changing this weekend we should be able to go walking in the woods every night now - and I'm sure her muscles will build up pretty quickly and she'll be back to herself in no time. Certainly her mind was willing to run around like her old self.
And I was really impressed with Jack - he seemed completely willing to stay on the path and follow along with us - I was worried that he was going to try and run off so I kept him on leash the whole walk - I didn't know whether he was going to have a mind of his own and I'd have to fish him out of a big puddle somewhere - so he may get to go off-leash on future walks, which will be a good thing.

This is my very first photo of Jack running towards me - hopefully the first of many - I've talked before about the photos I have of Buttercup running towards me - I've got almost 100 of them, and have a slideshow of them, I also have some of Daisy - I love them all.

I got a new book today from Amazon.com that I ordered - called "On God and Dogs" - I heard about it in a email newsletter I get from "Animal News Network" - so I've got some light reading to do this weekend. It looks pretty neat. I've got another blog besides this one called "Dogs are Dharma" where I talk about bringing your dogs into your Buddhist religious rituals and stuff - so this kind of thing interests me. I also ordered a couple other books that I noticed when I ordered the above book - one was called "What Animals Can Teach Us About Spirituality: Inspiring Lessons from Wild and Tame Creatures" and another was "Animal Rites: Liturgies of Animal Care - they both sounded pretty interesting too". I'm pretty sure my dogs are going to get to heaven way before me.

The Coast Magazine says something useful?

Imagine my surprise when I was reading the Coast Magazine tonight and I read not one, but TWO articles relating to animals - one article talks about the opening of the Three Dog Bakery over in Dartmouth Crossing, but the other article talks about the NS SPCA's contract with the HRM for animal sheltering - that is VERY interesting.

I say it's interesting because I read the Chronicle Herald article on Wednesday morning that talked about the fact that cats had made it BACK INTO the cat bylaw, and that the bylaw had been talked about at the previous days Regional Council meeting (which I hadn't watched on tv) - so I made sure I taped it when it was on again at 12 noon on Wednesday - and watched the whole thing - all 3 1/2 hours of it - it was on the agenda - 6.1 "“To reconsider the motion passed on February 26, 2008 that Halifax Regional Council remove the provisions relating to cat legislation from By-Law A-300 and maintain the status quo in regards to a contracted sheltering service with the NSSPCA or other service provider at the end of the contract.”

But in 3 1/2 hours - it wasn't mentioned once. And I guess I now know why - it was done in an earlier session where cameras weren't allowed. I keep emailing my HRM Councillor and asking him about the bylaw with questions about the bylaw, and one of my questions always is - how can you extend the SPCA's Animal Shelter contract without going out to tender? And my Councillor always skips over that question. I don't know why. But I guess maybe I'm not the only one with that question - here's the article from the Coast that I found so intriguing:

City keeps secrets

A couple of months ago, Halifax council was considering entering into a contract with a vendor to provide some service or another---I forget the particulars. But one of the councillors wanted to discuss it, a request that threw top bureaucrat Dan English into a logical conundrum.

"This is a contractual matter, which should be discussed in camera," said English, referring to the no-public-allowed sessions council holds before each meeting. "Only one company bid on the contract, so there's no reason we need to go to closed session, but that's the way we've always done it."

The default position, you see, is secrecy---whether it's necessary or not. So, from time to time I'll use this space to point out the obsessive, and undemocratic, desire for secrecy in government.

Let's consider this week's bit of ridiculousness: once again, council was considering an issue that involved only one contractor---the SPCA, which would provide expanded shelter services to handle the thousands and thousands of felines that will be caught up in the new cat bylaw.

(To underscore the foolishness of the whole situation, I normally use Pig Latin when I write about the cat bylaw. However, I'm not here talking about the bylaw itself, but rather the secrecy that surrounds it---the stupidity on top of the foolishness, if you will. The Pig Latin will return, no doubt, after the March 18 council meeting.)

Anyway, because council decided to deal with the issue in secret, rather than out in public like grownup, democratic people, the entire subject blew up on them again.

It came out later that the SPCA had handed the city a bill for nearly a half-million dollars a year to process delinquent cats. According to several councillors I spoke with, staff thought the SPCA had overstepped the scope of the tender by adding in services the city already takes care of itself, as well as services no one asked for in the first place. The contract could likely be scaled back to something more affordable, but since the issue was discussed in closed session, they couldn't get into it all without scheduling another public meeting.

Council is now in an even more absurd situation: they will hold a vote to "reconsider"---i.e., scrap---the cat bylaw on March 18. If that passes, they'll need to hold a future public hearing. With all the notification requirements, there's no way that can happen until at least the first week of May. In the meanwhile, the cat bylaw itself will become the law of the land on (appropriately) April 1.

One councillor correctly pointed out the issue is making them a "laughingstock" across the nation.

But it's not the cats that are making council look ridiculous---the cat bylaw would have been history months ago had council not twisted itself into bureaucratic conniption-fits to deal with it. And at the very heart of that twisted process is an undemocratic and elitist belief that the public shouldn't be part of the conversation.

They have only themselves to blame.

SO Cute Cat Photos

Every day we all get forwarded emails from our friends - jokes, and chain emails - but today I got an email from one of my friends with cat photos that really cracked me up - they were photos that I hadn't seen before - which is rare - so I thought I'd put a couple of them here - I found them just THAT funny. Man, they were funny I thought. Thanks Debbie (and Lucie and Gracie) for giving me a good laugh on a Sunday morning!

Some Cute Photos

The publisher of "Furry's Halifax" took this photo of Buttercup and me last Sunday at the Doggie Expo - isn't it cute? This is how Buttercup spent basically the whole day - she was being so sooky with all the other dogs around, she wasn't letting any other dogs coming within range of me - and she would really rather no dog get anywhere near her liver either, if she would've had her way - especially when she realized there was loose liver on the table that dogs were taking pieces from! A few dogs got some good growls because of that. But that's the beauty of small dogs - they can still be dog aggressive and go out in public. Buttercup has more of the characteristics that you would label as being typically of the "pit bull type" than any dog that fits the physical characterstics I've ever met!

Here we have a few photos from tonight. When the dogs come in from playing out in the back yard they typically continue carrying on in the living room - note that you can still see the snow on Charlie and Daisy's back - they were being just SO cute that I had to take some pictures. When Buttercup chooses to get involved in the play - the shenganigans become completely unmanageable in their cuteness. Charlie and Buttercup are just SUCH good friends.











This is Jack viewing the melee from the chair next to me - he hasn't quite yet figured out this whole "wrestling" thing - but I'm thinking that he's not too far from getting involved. Being almost blind and 12 years old puts him at a distinct disadvantage for this type of game, so he might be better off at just being a referee on the side lines. But damn, he looks cute. He's not scared at all - which is a good thing - I think he'd be right in the middle of it if he had 20/20 vision.

Evidence work delays shelter probe

The article below is from the Chronicle Herald on Thursday. It is supposedly explaining why there hasn't been any cruelty charges laid yet in the Celtic Pets case. Certainly I don't have any window into the inside workings of the NS SPCA - the farthest thing from it, actually. The farthest.

I have volunteered, given money to, fostered for, and done a lot of stuff with the local SPCA and the Dartmouth shelter. I've adopted Charlie, Buttercup, my first dog George, and a dog named Philip - a biological brother to Charlie from the Dartmouth shelter. I've cleaned cages on Christmas day, worked their mall booths, spent egregious amounts of money at their dinner auctions, paid my yearly dues to be a member of the NS SPCA, walked at the dog jog for many years - and been an approved foster - and fostered dogs. I have been to at least 2 or 3 annual general meetings now - and started to become involved with the NS SPCA because I believed in the mandate of the newly reformed Executive in 2003.

Prior to 2003 the euthanasia rate at the Dartmouth shelter was greater than 40%. But before I started to become involved in rescue there was a "coup" of sorts and a new executive took over the reins at the NS SPCA and they took over the Dartmouth metro shelter - vowing to turn the Dartmouth metro shelter into a low kill shelter. And when I heard what they were trying to do - I wanted to become involved in that. So I did.

But over the years that triumph of morals seems to have degraded into what the Executive of the NS SPCA is today. And I am ashamed for them. And that's why I feel like I have to say something on my blog - even though I'm the only one who's speaking out. I really wish someone else would do it. I have a vested interest in keeping quiet.

But I have questions and comments like everybody else has. Maybe I'll just provide the links and the questions, and you can think about things yourself.

Over on Kijiji - they've been talking about quite a few things that are very interesting - you can go read some threads at

Celtic Pets - the next chapter

Follow up - Urgent Plea for Celtic Pets - Note, this doesn't get interesting until about page 4 or 5

This is a link to a Cape Breton post article that has a TON of comments attached to it, that have quite a few INTERESTING comments attached to it - and there's also a link to a BLOG that's been started by Zonda's neighbour - Guido - called "Animals not Forgotten"....

The questions I have are -

- why is it ONE MONTH later and stil there are no cruelty charges laid... Pam Keddy says that it is because they are still gathering evidence and they've been too busy doing other stuff. Just about everybody I know - and I know a lot of people - have been busy volunteering at the shelter and doing things to help out. How busy have the important people at the NS SPCA been? They say that they've had to work on the cat bylaw thing - well on Tuesday the cat bylaw was THROWN OUT. That should clear up a chunk of time now - the charges should come pretty soon now, shouldn't they?

- why are only FIFTEEN of the FIFTY-ONE dogs seized on the Metro SPCA's Petfinder site? Where are all the other dogs? Why hasn't anyone seen them? Why have NO dogs - that we know of - gone out to foster homes? Why are all the dogs seized - almost one month later - still sitting in cages - just like they were when they were living in their own private hell up in Port Hastings? And why is no one talking about that?

No one is talking about what has happened to the dogs since they've come up to Metro - everybody just ASSUMES that they are OKAY now. I know of only FOUR dogs that are not in the shelter - but as I said at the top of this post - I am very far from the inside of the entourage - so I could be completely wrong. Please - SOMEBODY - tell me I'm wrong! Where are all the dogs!

- why is it that every time I read an article - they're talking about "adopting out" the seized animals? Until the cruelty charges are dealt with in court - they can't "adopt out" anything! As far as I understand - there's only one animal in the whole 121 animals seized who was actually "owned" previously - and therefore can be immediately re-adopted out - the other 120 animals have to be kept as "evidence" until the cruelty charges are filed, dealt with by the court and the MacIsaacs are found guilty or innocent - if they're found guilty, then they lose the animals, if they're found innocent - they get all the animals back. I'm not a lawyer - but watching cases like this elsewhere - that seems like pretty standard practice. SPCA's don't seize animals and then immediately give them away.

In the below article Pam Keddy is saying that "the rescued animals have (not)been adopted out because they are not yet well enough or are still showing signs of kennel distress".

What bullshit is that? Is she trying to give people false hope? Was she mis-quoted? Or does she just like to lie? Or is she just trying to engender feelings of good will towards the NS SPCA by saying all the animals are still too "kennel stressed" - well I'd still be kennel stressed after living in my own filth - and then going to another place and still be in a cage too!

Okay, I'm going off on an unnecessary tangent, you get my drift, so I'm going to stop here. I've done enough damage. Some questions need to be answered by the Executive of the NS SPCA - they've been asked not just by me - but by the folks over on the boards at Kijiji and by the comments at the Cape Breton Post - I am not alone here - I'm just the one with the cajones to compile it. Don't be hatin'. But I know you will.

I'm interested to see what the personal retribution will be towards me and my animal family - stay tuned. Media may be involved if certain people are hateful enough.

Evidence work delays shelter probe
Staff going full tilt, SPCA says
By TERA CAMUS Cape Breton Bureau
Thu. Feb 28 - 4:48 AM

PORT HAWKESBURY — An investigation into alleged animal neglect and abuse at the defunct Celtic Pets Rescue shelter is taking longer than expected, SPCA officials say.

The volume of evidence that must be compiled before charges are considered against shelter owner Zonda MacIsaac and her mother, Alice MacIsaac, is overwhelming, provincial SPCA president Pamela Keddy said Wednesday.

The staffers doing the investigating are the same workers in Dartmouth who are caring for the sick or dying animals that were transferred there from the West Bay Road shelter, about 30 kilometres from Port Hawkesbury, and from Alice MacIsaac's home in Port Hawkesbury.

"We still don't have charges laid because it's turned out to be a larger file than we anticipated," Ms. Keddy said. "It's 130 animals and our shelter manager and staff are going full tilt . . . writing statements, getting (veterinarian) reports, running the shelter daily and (helping prepare) the new cat bylaw" in Halifax.

Almost all of the 79 cats found alive during three raids at the two locations this month continue to recover from various respiratory ailments. Four had to be euthanized after testing positive for a contagious feline leukemia.

The Cat Cuddlers, a group of volunteers from metro Halifax, have come forward to help SPCA staff clean, care for or simply play with the rescued cats. Many of the cats had to be shaved to the skin because their fur was severely encrusted with feces from their time living in a basement flooded with sewage from a backed-up septic system.

Alice MacIsaac was the SPCA special constable for Inverness County until November, when she was let go for allegedly interfering in the investigation of Celtic Pets Rescue, a probe that began in October. Until Feb. 5, she was also the animal control officer for the town of Port Hawkesbury, on a contract worth about $500 a month. Town
officials fired her that night, pending the outcome of the SPCA investigation.

The SPCA says video evidence collected in January shows that animals at Celtic Pets Rescue were left alone for days at a time without human visitors. So far, none of the rescued animals have been adopted out because they are not yet well enough or are still showing signs of kennel distress, allegedly from being virtually abandoned for months.

But Ms. Keddy said some good has come from the distressing situation. The public continues to pour out its concern for the animals, and the province is working behind the scenes with the SPCA to come up with amendments to the Animal Cruelty Protection Act for consideration in the House this spring.

Ms. Keddy said one problem with the current legislation is that a kennel operator under SPCA investigation can refuse or delay an investigator's inspection of the site for months, which is what occurred at Celtic Pets Rescue, she said.

It wasn't until investigators gathered enough evidence to go to court and get a search warrant that they were able to raid the shelter.

"We really need the ability to go on the property, and if we're denied, we should be able to get a warrant immediately and go back," Ms. Keddy said in an earlier interview. "If it's a case of something going on, we'd know immediately, or allegations that turned out to be) unfounded, we'd know immediately.

"Even if that is the only change, that would make a huge difference."

The act also doesn't define the "adequate" amount of food and shelter necessary to keep animals healthy.

The SPCA has also begun to look at how it hires special constables and is reviewing the background of 20 working around the province.