Call for Action - Pressure MUST be kept up on OSCPA

Some good overviews of what has been taking place over the last crazy 24 hours - One Bark talks about how media pressure, protesters, phone calls and other outcries have MAYBE made the ospca reconsider (although obviously too late for those already killed).  Red Star gives a brilliant synopsis of how Animal House Calls' Ann Rohmer slaughtered OSPCA spokesman Rod Godfrey and treated viewers to an individual trying to remove his foot from his ass.  Houndward Bound highlights a Sun article wherein fired shelter manager, Denise Stephenson strikes back at the allegations levelled at her by OSCPA head, Kate MacDonald (who in essence, has publicly laid the entire blame for the ringworm "epidemic" at Stephenson's feet).

The reality is, the pressure MUST be kept up. 

What this entire horror illustrates is what was originally revealed in the OSPCA's deliberate and concerted decision to destroy the THS - and the hundreds of animals they euthanized because in THEIR opinion it was needed.  The OSPCA acts autonomously, independently and at will - there is no group, individual, government body or overseer who has authority to veto Kate MacDonald's et al's arbitrary and often badly conceived and to my mind, criminal decisions. 

This MUST change. No organization - no matter how vaunted their self-described actions, no matter how good the spin doctoring, no matter how much LEGAL authority they carry- should operate without real checks and balances to ensure that a balanced, fair and justified mandate is exercised.

This was illustrated in the human arena with the ongoing and often controversial drama which surrounds complaints against the police. The SIU - often accused of being a toothless wonder - has had to bolster and strengthen its ability to investigate complaints against Ontario police in light of the often unmistakable bias they display vis-a-vis their partisan preference for the Force.

And the OSPCA doesn't even pretend to be open to any kind of criticism, investigation or veto. 

Further, up to this point, the media (with a few exceptions, thank you Toronto Examiner) has slavishly endorsed anything uttered by an organization that claims to protect animals yet has again and again, obviously, clearly and blatantly followed an agenda which CLEARLY does anything BUT protect them.

So explain to me? Just how DIFFERENT is Kate MacDonald and her minions from Tim Trow and his slavish followers?

Both are dictatorial and opinionated. Both are convinced of the inviolability of their right to do whatever they think is the answer.  Both react aggressively and swiftly to destroy anyone who challenges (or even asks) for the justifications for taking certain actions.  Both surround themselves with individuals who follow orders, do not question and have no moral fiber.

Tim Trow systematically destroyed the THS by his inability to allow a balanced perspective, his hoarding and his refusal to listen to experts in a field he was not qualified to judge.  Kate MacDonald is patently as arrogant and convinced of her own infallibility as displayed by her actions both at the THS and more recently, in the horror in Newmarket.

Neither Tim Trow nor Kate MacDonald feel constrained to explain their actions nor name their sources - both talk vaguely of "experts" and generic "veterinarians". Both react angrily when asked to explain what actions or steps were taken when a crisis erupts and feel no need to justify or in any way, explain to a public which truly CARES about animals why a certain action is the "only reasonable choice".

Further, both resort to big sticks (aka security guards, police presence and lawyers) when facile and unsatisfactory explanations are not taken at face value and challenged.

The reality is that the OSPCA should NOT be allowed to continue unchecked without some formally appointed group or organization to oversee and provide balance to decisions.  There should - and must - be a structure in place where people who feel that their rights and those of the animals they care for have been violated and to which they can report these violations and hope for some form of justice from an impartial jury.

This is not hate mongering against the OSPCA nor is it a personal vendetta. This is a call for justice, for balance and perspective.

Whether a civilian group is struck, a government body assigned or whether the Charity's own Board votes to set up an impartial jury of unrelated and unaffiliated individuals to oversee, something MUST be done to ensure the OSPCA is subjected to a reasonable and necessary system wherein controversial decisions, complaints and disputes can be aired and yes, even challenged!