SPCA looking at reports of do-it-yourself surgery on pets

By The Canadian Press - Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 5:35 AM - 0 Comments

SASKATOON – The Saskatchewan SPCA says it is getting reports from across the province of people performing do-it-yourself surgery on their pets.

SPCA manager Kaley Pugh says veterinarians have reported treating dogs “who have suffered from this practice.”

This year she’s seen five reports of dog owners using elastrator bands to neuter their male dogs, a practice usually found on the farm when castrating young bulls.

Pugh says such people may assume the practice is transferable, but it’s not because unlike bulls, dogs can lick and chew the area that’s under pressure, thus inflicting more damage.

She also speculates such people may not want to pay the vet bill to have their dog neutered.

“The photographs I’ve seen are quite shocking,” said Pugh. “Animals with significant wounds and bleeding and rotting tissue still attached to the animal.

“The damage is significant and they did need emergency medical care or they would have likely passed away from their injuries.”

At the Cumberland Veterinary clinic in Saskatoon, Dr. Terri Chotowitz said even with her years of experience neutering animals, even she can’t do the procedure at home.

“There’s no way you can get that (elastrator band) tight enough without causing a lot of discomfort for the dog,” said Chotowitz. “I can only imagine how much chewing and licking and trauma they are doing to that area, trying to get that off. To use an elastrator ring is terrible and it doesn’t make sense on any level.”

She added dog-owners who refuse to pay for a proper neutering procedure will end up paying a lot more trying to repair the damage done.

Pugh said if they can’t afford the surgery, they probably shouldn’t have a dog in the first place.

The City of Saskatoon offers a subsidized spay-neuter program where low-income families can qualify for a pet surgery for a small fraction of the full price.

Pugh said such practices could be in violation of the Animal Protection Act and the Criminal Code and said the SPCA may start launching investigations.

Vancouver councillor to bring shark fins to city hall

By The Canadian Press - Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at 6:12 AM - 0 Comments

VICTORIA – Vancouver Coun. Kerry Jang says he’ll use a couple props from his mother’s closet today to kick off his campaign to ban the sale and trade of shark fins in much of the Lower Mainland and to show the ban isn’t an effort to demonize anyone.

He said in an interview he dug two aging, dried shark fins out of his mother’s house and will take them to city hall to illustrate the traditional and ethical bridge that needs to be crossed in the growing debate over the Asian delicacy.

Jang plans to introduce a motion at Vancouver city council Tuesday that calls on the cities of Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond to join forces to develop a regional shark-fin ban.

“A lot of people here (in Vancouver) already own shark fin. They got it through purely innocent means as a wedding gift or something like that,” he said.

“We’re not saying to people if you possess it, you’re evil and bad. . .We’re just saying it’s the future sales and trade. There are other alternatives.”

Jang said he doesn’t want to use his mother’s shark fins as symbols of the anti-animal cruelty fight that’s behind what is becoming a worldwide campaign to outlaw shark-fin use. Instead, he said they are illustrative of a possible future that doesn’t involve the slaughter of sharks for their fins.

“It’s a worldwide movement,” said Jang. “People can squawk all they like, but it’s just happening because everybody recognizes that it’s an ethical issue. It’s not a traditional issue. It’s not a racial or traditional issue. It’s an ethical issue. You just can’t wipe out a species.”

He said the possession and use of shark fins in the Chinese-Canadian community have a long-standing traditional hold on many people, but times are changing and the future of one of the world’s most important species is at stake.

Jang said his mother got the fins almost 60 years ago, probably from her own mother, as a gift.

Jang said he’ll be in Victoria next week at the annual Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention to support a motion that seeks a provincewide ban on the possession, sale and distribution of shark fin.

International animal rights groups estimate that up to 73 million sharks are killed each year, mostly for their fins. The groups say sharks are dumped back into the world’s oceans after their fins are cut off, leaving them to die slow and painful deaths.

Jang said his motion, which requires the support of Vancouver council, will ask city staff to formally work with Burnaby and Richmond to ban the sale and trade of shark fin.

Coquitlam, Port Moody, North Vancouver City and Maple Ridge already support shark fin sales bans in their cities.

Six cities in Ontario have shark fin bans, including Toronto, and the states of Washington, California, Oregon, Illinois and Hawaii also ban shark fins.

Some Vancouver area business associations representing Asian restaurants say they do not support a shark fin ban.

North Vancouver City Coun. Craig Keating said UBCM delegates who represent the province’s cities, towns and villages will be asked to support a provincewide shark fin ban that says “shark fin harvesting is an inhumane and wasteful practice serving a very narrow and sometimes criminal marketplace.”

Keating said he was convinced the shark-fin market threatens the survival of the shark species and impacts the future of other species.

The UBCM motion also calls on the federal government to ban the import of shark fins into Canada.

Marineland not yet in the clear, CAZA says

By macleans.ca - Saturday, August 25, 2012 at 8:41 AM - 0 Comments

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. – The Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums says it is still in the process of investigating allegations concerning Marineland Canada.

The amusement park issued a release Thursday that said experts from CAZA and the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had conducted a joint inspection and found no “major issues” at the Niagara Falls, Ont., facility.

An investigation was launched after a series of published reports in which former Marineland staff alleged that animals were not being properly cared for.

Marineland said the CAZA experts noted there were “some eye issues in a few animals,” but most were related to old age and all of these animals were under veterinary care.

CAZA director Bill Peters, however, says his association’s investigation is ongoing, and the results have yet to be submitted to the CAZA Accreditation Commission for review.

In a release issued Friday, Peters says the process will likely take about a week, at which time a decision will be rendered.

Dr. June Mergl, head of veterinary services at Marineland, has said the allegations of the former staffers were without context, and that maintaining the welfare of the animals was a “balancing act.”

Marineland is home to a variety of creatures, including beluga whales, dolphins and orcas.

No major issues found in inspection, says Marineland

By The Canadian Press - Friday, August 24, 2012 at 5:51 AM - 0 Comments

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont.—Marineland says the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has found no ”major issues” at the Niagara Falls, Ont., facility.

In a release issued late Thursday, the amusement park says the (OSPCA and experts from the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums conducted a joint inspection.

This follows a series of published reports in which former Marineland staff alleged animals were not being properly cared for.

Dr. June Mergl, head of veterinary services at Marineland, said the allegations were without context, and that maintaining the welfare of the animals is a ”balancing act.”

Marineland says the experts noted there are ”some eye issues in a few animals,” but most are related to old age and all of these animals are under veterinary care.

Marineland is home to a variety of creatures, including beluga whales, dolphins and orcas.

Easy does it, cowboy

By Colby Cosh - Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 12:00 PM - 0 Comments

Isaac Brekken/AP

At the Calgary Stampede, the two-step between contemporary animal-welfare sensitivities and hootin’-and-hollerin’ rodeo tradition continues in 2010. The Stampede is adopting a new animal-safety rule for this year’s competition in steer wrestling—the timed event in which a cowboy chases a castrated young bull double his own mass on horseback, leans over to get leverage on its horns, slips out of the saddle, and, in a struggle that can vary in elegance from ballet to barroom brawl, twists the beast’s neck until it topples on its side.

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