(QUEEN’S PARK)- MPP Randy Hillier (Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington) expressed his dismay over recent events at a Newmarket SPCA shelter, and his ongoing concern over the lack of accountability provided to the OSPCA by the passing last year of Bill 50.
“We have given the OSPCA total authority with no oversight, and this has resulted in one set of rules for the OSPCA and another standard for the rest of the public,” observed Hillier. “If anyone else had animals in their care that were alleged to be in such negligent condition, the OSPCA would have seized the animals in question and charged the owner with abuse. Knowing the circumstances surrounding ringworm infections, how they are spread, and the treatment, it brings into question the conditions at this, and other shelters. These animals are often animals rescued from alleged abusers, brought only to face a death sentence for a curable ailment at the hands of the body mandated to protect them.”
“That the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals’ best solution was extermination is only one question of concern. The motivation for the announcement of the decision to euthanize these animals is another,” added Hillier, noting that the public was initially told that 350 animals were being scheduled to death; we subsequently find out that some of the animals had been adopted out or stolen by staff or volunteers. Some 144 will be tested, while 99 have already been put to death. This has led to much speculation of the motivation. When questioned in the House, Minister Bartolucci, under whose Ministry the OSPCA falls, was muzzled.
Yesterday, OSPCA board chairman Rob Godfrey quipped “It’s a good day to be a turtle at the OSPCA,” because 8 turtles didn’t have ringworm. That was the OSPCA’s best effort at transparency.
“Did the OSPCA make the original announcement to spur their fundraising efforts by highlighting their inability to provide adequate space and care for their wards? If this should be the case, it is a high price to pay, a life for a donation, and it certainly makes their altruistic mantra suspect,” concluded Hillier.
Randy Hillier, MPP Lanark Frontenac Lennox, is a co-founder of the Lanark Landowners Association, which was brought to life to address government imposition on the rights of private property owners, and to address the regressive regulatory impositions that government was bringing down upon farmers and business owners in rural Ontario.
In 2006, Randy resigned as President of the OLA in order to run as a candidate for the Progressive Conservatives. Randy was elected in the 2007 provincial election.
Randy a long-time resident of Lanark County, an electrician by trade and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), continues to co-publish and edit rural Ontario’s successful magazine “The Landowner.”
