We went, we protested and NO, OSPCA Brass- we are NOT going away

A determined group of people gathered yesterday outside OSPCA headquarters on Woodbine in Newmarket yesterday to demand again the resignation of OSPCA brass and killers extrordinaire Kate MacDonald, Tanya Firmage and Jim Sykes. Also on the agenda is a demand that the Board of Directors of this increasingly beleaguered organization resign due, among other things, to gross mismanagement and a failure to provide quality of life and a duty of care to the animals in their possession.

Terry Davidson of the Toronto Sun gives a succinct overivew of the situation, including a heartrending interview with Gianna Tramontin who recently had her old dog seized and summarily executed without due process nor any real attempt to contact her. Ms. Tramontin's veternarian Dr. Hannah who has bravely spoken out about the gross negligence involved in killing Rocky - an aging but happy dog who has been under her care for 14 years - also joined the protest. She was outraged that when the story was originally carried on CBC, her subsequent rebuttal of the OSPCA version of events was never aired and the CBC continued to present the OSPCA as a humanitarian organization only concerned with the suffering of an old "neglected" dog. This in fact was the farthest thing from the truth as Rocky was a beloved, cossetted and well cared for senior who is much missed by his family.

Carrying signs and bearing silent witness to the death last year of 102 animals at the Newmarket facility due to a since disputed "ringworm" outbreak (not only did the "outbreak" NOT occur, but even had it been present, ringworm is very treatable), protesters refuse to back down. Spokesperson Lynn Perrier (right), a tireless and determined animal advocate who has spearheaded the past several years campaign against OSPCA mismanagement, is determined to keep up the pressure.

Ms. Perrier and many others are seeking a number of actions:

• For government step in to fire senior management (Jim Sykes, Kate MacDonald and Tanya Firmage and Connie Mallory)
• Rob Godfrey and the entire Board of Directors be removed
• A forensic audit of OSPCA finances and spending
• An investigation into OSPCA charity status
• Charges of animal cruelty to be brought against those responsible for the needless killing of 102 animals in May 2010 and the other animals like Rocky

Other than the occasional car driving out or in infrequently (faces frozen and determined not to look at the protesters), the building was silent.  Apparently, as Mr. Davidson said in his article:

A woman who came to the entrance of the building’s administrative offices said the agency was not commenting to the media, and that the shelter would stay closed until Thursday because of security concerns. OSPCA officials were not available for comment, she said.

Security concerns? 

In keeping with Ms. Perrier's request to keep the protest legal and civil, no one at yesterday's demonstration blocked the driveway, heckled, created issues or in any way disturbed the peace. 

With all respect, the thought of OSPCA brass who with impunity have broken the law, been caught out in lie after lie, unapologetically slaughtered animals for which they were supposed to care, NEVER apologized or even admitted to wrongdoing, the thought of these individuals cowering inside a locked building, in fear of a largely middle-aged (although there were a fair sprinkling of young ones there too!! YEAH kids - bring it on!) women (and a few men) - is somehow both compellingly hilarious and outrageously silly.  Not sure if they expected us to storm the gates and batter down the doors with our signs, but we, unlike them follow due process.

The reality is that while the OSPCA would like to paint Ms. Perrier, myself and many, MANY other individuals as fanatics and liars - FACTS belie their assertions and efforts to undermine a determined group of individuals who hope to rid of the OSPCA of the deceitful, immoral and negligent management and directors that are currently destroying it. 

I admit to being perplexed, disappointed and shocked that so many continue to swallow the party line - that the OSPCA is an animal advocate and protects Ontario's animals when so many stories, studies and realities clearly show otherwise.

The OSPCA is, when all is said and done - a KILLING machine.