A Regina man’s conflict with rescuing a dog has revealed problems within the rescue community.
Mitchell van Seters began hosting a Lucky Paws Dog Rescue dog on April 24th.
He said the dog, Tanner, was in poor condition when he arrived and that Van Seters was worried that the dog had been abused by its previous owner.
“[He had a] very bad neck and lower back, they thought it was a serious case of scabies, “said van Seters.[He was] bored in color, lifeless in his eyes, hidden, he was afraid of being left out. ”
Tanner, a golden retriever, was taken to Mitchell van Seters with a throat infection that was thought to be a “severe scab”. (Submitted by Mitchell van Seters)
A few weeks later, van Seters received instructions to rescue Tanner from returning the dog, as the dog had been taken from its previous owners without proper surrender documentation.
Lucky Paws said in an interview with CBC that incidents of taking a pet unjustly are rare, but that they happen because rescues are not regulated and there is no legislation to support them. He said he would like to see appropriate federal, provincial and municipal laws that support and regulate dog rescue.
Roseanne Cole, chief financial officer of Lucky Paws, said the rescue helps dogs in and around Regina, Moose Jaw and Fort Qu’appelle areas.
“We try to work with human society as much as we can, but at the end of the day, they’re local, they can’t help us out of town,” Cole said.
“Something has to change, rules and regulations and some of the funding has to come to the rescue to help as well.”
Saskatchewan Animal Welfare Services said in a statement that it had sent the provincial government a framework for rescues, called the Saskatchewan Animal Rescue Standards, in the hope that it would be included in the 2018 Animal Protection Act.
The guidelines cover population management, medical health, record keeping and other areas of concern for rescues. At the moment, the guidelines are voluntary for rescues in Saskatchewan.
The document states that rescue policies must address the resources and legal / contractual obligations of organizations.
“Protocols must be developed and written in sufficient detail to achieve and maintain the standards set by Saskatchewan Animal Rescue Standards and updated as necessary to ensure that they reflect current industry standards and relevant legislation.” , he says.
It also states that provincial and municipal legislation should comply with rescues when it comes to periods of pet detention.
The Animal Protection Act 2018 makes no reference to rescues and stipulates that animal protection officers may remove a pet from their home, with an order, if the environment is deemed unfit.
While pet rescues often work with protection services, Lucky Paws Dog Rescue and other nonprofits like this cannot hire protection agents.
Tanner behaved very well during his reception, says van Seters. (Mitchell van Seters / Facebook)
Aunt Laurans, Lucky Paws foster care coordinator, said that not always being able to rescue dogs from bad situations is a terrible feeling.
“It sucks when you reach out to people who are there to help and they can’t do anything, or they don’t,” he said.
“There are times when we don’t know what to do unless we literally want to risk the name of the whole rescue and reject it and not help any more dogs or put us in jail.”
Laurans added that in order for any potential law to make a difference, pets must first be considered as their own entity and not just owned by the owner.
Rescue says the dog was caught and taken in because of poor communication
Van Seters said that before he started raising Tanner, his first pet, he received a call from Lucky Paws saying the dog was “extremely distressed”. Tanner appeared to be “quite malnourished” when he arrived, van Seters said.
Tanner, a golden retriever, was taken to Lucky Paws from Pelican Narrows. Van Seters said the dog was “loose” in the community, which is 388 miles northeast of Prince Albert, Sask.
Lucky Paws dog rescue staff Linda Leslie on the left, Tia Laurans in the center, and Roseanne Cole say that when Tanner was brought in, “very obviously” it had previously belonged to someone. (CBC News)
Van Seters said the rescue told him negative things about the former Tanner owner, including allegations of negligence.
“They didn’t want this dog to come back to him and [said they] they’re doing everything in their power to make sure the dog doesn’t come back, “said van seters.” take care of Tanner “.
Van Seters said he learned of the rescue in the middle of Tanner’s three-week stay that the previous owner had threatened legal action if Tanner was not returned.
Lucky Paws said he was in contact with van Seters for the duration of Tanner’s stay and that the dog had regular visits to the vet and was scheduled to be neutered.
Cole, chief financial officer of Lucky Paws, said Tanner showed no signs of malnutrition when he was taken to the rescue and that veterinary records show he was healthy apart from his skin condition. She said neither she nor anyone else at the rescue knew much about her original family.
“He was a very nice dog, very obedient and the first thing that came to our mind was that he obviously belonged to someone at some point,” Cole said.
Cole confirmed that Tanner was removed from the community without proper documentation for a third-party rescue.
A third-party rescuer, north of 54, said in an email to CBC that he had permission from Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation to come and bring dogs untied within meters of the community.
“Community members were widely notified that this rescue was taking place and that the dogs should be tied up,” the rescue said in a statement. “One of the members of the Band Council had to sign all the withdrawn dogs, but without knowing it [us], none of them were in the community on the day of the rescue. No one had informed us.
“Some people found us and retrieved their dogs, but this particular owner did not come looking for us and if he had, the dog would have given it to him at that time.”
Laurans said Lucky Paws will change its process to prevent pets from being caught unfairly in the future.
“There were no surrender procedures there and that’s what we’re changing now, I don’t care where the dog comes from, there will be procedures with someone signing it,” Laurans said.
As for Tanner, van Seters did not want him to return to Lucky Paws. He said friends, family and other co-workers told him not to let Tanner return after seeing the dog’s condition on arrival.
“We offered to adopt him directly if that was an option. It was not an option,” he said.
Van Seters says Tanner had no scabies, but he did have a skin infection that forced van Seters to give him medicated baths. (Mitchell van Seters / Facebook)
Van Seters said he tried everything he could to prevent Tanner from being returned, including talking to Regina’s police service, animal protection services and a lawyer.
“Essentially, everyone said that if the case is that they had no documentation and this dog was taken away anyway, it is considered theft,” van Seters said.
Cole said he spoke with Tanner’s original family and found out she belonged to a 12-year-old girl. Cole said the girl used the dog, whose original name is Laser, as a support animal to help cope with the loss of her mother.
“It became clear that we need to see what we can do,” he said. “I tried to convince him to leave the dog at any cost. I didn’t want to send him because he had such a serious neck problem.”
He said that if someone wants to return their dog, the normal practice of rescue is to try to convince the original owner to let the dog stay with the foster family.
“It simply came to our notice then [he] He probably has a better life here, it’s a long haul to send him back, we already have his vet here, “Cole said.” I did this for three weeks, I still wanted his dog back. “
Van Seters said the Regina Humane Society told him to bring the dog to surrender. He said an officer said he would open an investigation into Lucky Paws Dog Rescue with information gathered by Seters.
“I showed him the photos [of the dog] and she gasped, “he said.
Van Seters said he called humanitarian society to ask why he went through all the trouble of rescuing the dog if they only wanted to send him back.
“The first day we had him, I leaned over to him and said, ‘You’re safe now, we’ll take care of you,’ and I couldn’t keep that promise,” van Seters said.
Laser is currently with its original owner, a 12-year-old girl from Pelican Narrows. (Submitted by Mitchell van Seters)
Shortly after being brought into human society, the dog was handed over to Lucky Paws and finally returned to his family.
Linda Leslie, Lucky Paws admissions director, said the dog was happy when he reunited with his family. She said she was excited to jump over them.
“If it was a dog that didn’t want to be with this family, we’d find out.” she said. “It can be said that the laser is very popular.
“If he had been mistreated, you would certainly have seen the signs in his gestures and there was no sign.”
Lucky Paws is currently a non-profit non-profit
One of the first things Saskatchewan animal rescue standards say is that rescues must be registered as non-profit organizations through Revenue Canada Charities.
According to the Government of Canada website, Lucky Paws Dog Rescue had its non-profit status revoked in November 2021 for failing to file a tax return. Cole said he is in the middle of re-applying for nonprofit status.
“It was a comedy of mistakes,” he said. “Our accountant is working on it right now.”
According to the Government of Canada website, Lucky Paws not being registered means that it cannot issue official charitable receipts and is not exempt from income tax as a charity. Indicate if …