# CRUELTY: Toronto Hum-Soc- BoD, Prez + DVM arrested



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Toronto Humane Society officials arrested, face animal-cruelty charges - The Globe and Mail 
Police and OSPCA raid the Toronto Humane Society yesterday - 
5 officers and the facility vet were arrested. 
*WARNING -* - 
there is a SLIDE-show of graphic images, which includes dying, dead and suffering animals. 
*Do NOT open that slide-show if U have a sensitive stomach.*

Provincial agency refuses to step in at shelter - The Globe and Mail 
the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee oversees charities in the province, 
but they are refusing to act and appoint an interim Director. 
_*this agency SAT * ON a private investigators report, detailing mismanagement and cruelty, 
from TWO-thousand-SIX. *_ i would describe that as collusion - which is incredible.

How charges caught Humane Society board members off guard - The Globe and Mail 
14 volunteers on the B-o-D may also face charges

Killing them with kindness - The Globe and Mail 
*Killing with kindness*, part III of a 3-part series - 
- vets at the shelter needed management permission to euth morbid animals 
- dogs with recent-bite histories were offered for adoption within days 
- more animals *Died on-site than were euthanized, to entice more donations with low euth-rates* 
- neglect: lack of food, water, or care - killed many animals 
- staff were required to sign confidentiality agreements that extend *two years* beyond their departure

this is an ugly, ugly story, and will very-likely be even uglier before it ends. 
i only hope the animals in the facility are getting adequate care, now! 
what a horror, 
--- terry


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## mezzer (Oct 6, 2009)

This story is absolutely horrific and bought tears to my eyes.

I can't bear to think of the pain and suffering these poor animals went through.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

hey, mezzer! :--)

it really bothers me that the Office of Public Guardian *smothered* that report from 2006 - i cannot stand to think 
of all the poor animals who have suffered and died over the past 3 years, b/c they were _*too lazy*_ to do their jobs! 
that shocked me to my core. :frown2:

i hope that the provincial-agency is investigated, too!  
best regards, 
--- terry


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## Johnderondon (Jul 6, 2009)

This is a horrific allegation. If it is true then I hope that the culpable parties are hit with the full force of the law.

However the main thrust of the complaints seem to focus on the non-euthanisation of suffering animals but the OSPCA only felt they had to act with four out of one thousand animals. That's 0.4% which seems very low if the allegations are right.



> Four animals that "were in immediate distress" were euthanized Thursday night at the humane society building on River St. according to Kevin Strooband, investigator with the OSPCA.
> 
> "There was no alternative," he added.
> 
> ...


Humane society president denies charges - thestar.com

The THS have implied that this is a funding war. Some of the pictures looked pretty bad but others didn't really show much beyond feaces in a kennel - without knowing how long they were there it doesn't mean too much. I don't like that euthanisation decisions didn't rest with the vets but beyond that I'm not sure what is reliable. The problem with all large organisations is that they hit a critical mass and then become self-serving, imo.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

on Friday, OSPCA raided the Toronto Humane Soc, and found many 
animals in immediate distress; charges were filed, including: 

President Tim Trow: 
2 counts of animal cruelty. 
2 counts of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Head-Vet Steve Sheridan: 
1 count of animal cruelty. 
1 count of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

General Manager (Name un): 
1 count of animal cruelty. 
2 counts of conspiracy to commit an indictable offense.

Supervisor Andy Bechtel: 
2 counts of conspiracy to commit an indictable offense. 
1 count of cruelty to animals. 
3 counts of obstructing a police officer.

The entire board of Dirs (Names unk): 
5 counts of cruelty to animals.

Bandit, a pitbull responsible for a terrible attack on a child, was ordered to be 
euthanized by the courts at that time. Tim Trow refused to comply with the ruling, 
and has kept the dog a virtual prisoner in his office for several years. 
on Friday, Bandit attacked a police officer, who used pepper spray to repel him. 
He is currently in the care of a vet; his fate is to be determined.

So far, vets from OSPCA euthanized 4 extremely sick cats. 
All animals are being examined by vets; more may be euthanized 
if they are determined to be too sick to survive, or suffering profoundly.

Many people reported bad conditions during their visits to the THS. 
Others got videos of filthy cages, feces covered food, sick animals left 
to die in cages, etc. Past and present staff of THS made statements, 
despite gag agreements. 
The animals are now in the hands of those who will care for them 
as they deserve to be cared for, attentively, and the VET, not the 
charity administration, will make decisions on meds, treatment, and 
yes: euthanasias. 

there may have been only 4 animals who needed to be euthed on 
Friday, but i would not be surprised if more joined them, over the 
next few days. animals who were barely holding their own, will tend 
to destabilize medically, and will become moribund. 

IMO: 
keeping any animal barely breathing, to warehouse them as a 
beating heart for sucking money out of wallets, is despicable, IMO. 
pity-porn is grotesque in my eyes; YES, i strongly believe in allowing 
an animal to try to heal, and giving as much support as possible to 
help advance that healing; but keeping an animal in a near-coma 
on fluids and a gastric tube is no life, UNLESS they are expected to 
have a chance to emerge, and then to have some quality of life. 

i also think the only person who can make that determination is 
the vet - Which animal is in protracted and severe pain? 
can medication control the pain, or heating pads, or some other 
care proviso ease their discomfort? 
is this something that may heal, or chronic endless suffering? 
is this animal a contagion risk to others? 

the authorities should be able to record the exam results, Dx, 
Rx, treat or allow staff to treat, and EUTHANIZE animals for 
whom pain or dysfunction are chronic, severe or untreatable. 

more charges may be filed, too - if animals who are neglected, 
later die, then the past-owner is the responsible party. 
i hope all of those who conspired to avoid humane inspections 
and denied suffering animals basic care and treatment, leaving 
them to die in their cages, are later among the people who die 
without care themselves. 

poetic justice, 
---- terry


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

more animals in extremis have been euthanized. 
a mummified cat was found in a live-trap, set in a ceiling and never checked. 
volunteers are now attempting to trap the feral cats, who have been living in the basement, crawl-spaces and walls, as a covert colony.

donations that were made to care for the animals will now be used to fund the legal defense of these people - which is IMO outrageous.

Mummified cat found in Humane Society ceiling - The Globe and Mail

EXCERPT - 


> THS president allegedly ordered a shelter vet to falsify medical records of a cat left bleeding in a cage
> for an hour after (Trows) PitBull, Bandit, attacked the feline in his office. [snip]
> The pitbull-Labrador cross moved to Trows office after the city ordered (the dog to be) euthanized
> for biting a toddler(s) head, leaving the child with a gash that required 200 stitches.
> ...


this is among the worst, if not *the worst, * shelter-neglect and shelter-abuse cases that i have ever known. 
i keep thinking this is a horror-film or a grotesque novel, but it is all-too real. 
i feel ill.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

bump...........


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

OMG, all those poor animals


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## Johnderondon (Jul 6, 2009)

leashedForLife said:


> there may have been only 4 animals who needed to be euthed on
> Friday, but i would not be surprised if more joined them, over the
> next few days. animals who were barely holding their own, will tend
> to destabilize medically, and will become moribund.


I'd be surprised too because with 1,000 animals there will be a natural rate of attrition of which, I'd guess, four animals in a day would not be excesive.

The allegations are awful and, if valid, should be vigourously prosecuted but I still don't understand why, if things were as bad as the picture being painted, only four animals were in need of euthanisation when the raid occured.

The OSPCA and THS are in competion for the same charity dollar, aren't they?


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

> THS president allegedly ordered a shelter vet to falsify medical records
> of a cat left bleeding in a cage for an hour after (Trows) PitBull, Bandit, attacked
> the feline in his office. [snip]
> The pitbull-Labrador cross moved to Trows office after the city ordered (the dog
> to be) euthanized for biting a toddler(s) head, leaving the child with a gash that required 200 stitches.


notice that this dog is a cross - 
of a pit-TYPE and a Lab, who could just as easily be described as a Lab-mix, or perhaps a Boxer-Lab cross, 
or any one of a number of possible bully-breed ancestors with a recent Lab tossed in the mix.

but in the public and media perception, _*Labs and Lab-mixes do not assault toddlers - 
and more especially, they do not cause severe injury.*_

this perception is inaccurate - 
more than 26 breeds and mixes have been involved in USA dog-bite _*fatalities*_ since 1970, from Pomeranians to Golden Retrievers.

* bites by small dogs are notoriously under-reported 
* bites by family pets are also under-reported or blamed on strays 
* breeds are frequently misidentified - 
often wildly so, with any black and tan dog becoming a Rott or Dobe 
(black and tan MinPins and Coonhounds have both been identified as Dobermans, and despite his coat, 
a Tibetan Mastiff was ID-ed as a Rottweiler in a newspaper account of a bite)

i am not minimizing the injury done to that child, which was terrible; 
i only want to point out that this dog can just as easily be labeled a Lab-mix, but the media salivate over 
such headlines as _*Pitbull attack - vicious frenzy!*_, and will use it every time in preference to 
_*Lab-mix bites toddler,*_ which is factual but not dramatically appealing. 

best regards, 
--- terry


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## canuckjill (Jun 25, 2008)

I read about this but didn't know how to put it on here. It is a horrible horrible thing when those that are supposed to protect and help turn around and do this kind of thing. Hope they get what they deserve....Jill


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