SPCA Hopes For Charges After 70 Cats And Dogs Seized In Surrey, B.C.

VANCOUVER — Another 70 animals have been seized by the B.C. SPCA, less than a month after the animal welfare agency rescued more than six dozen dogs from a puppy mill.

 

Officials took 56 cats, 12 dogs and two puppies from a breeding and boarding facility in Surrey, B.C., Tuesday after a vet deemed they were all in distress, said spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk.

 

The cats are Persians and short-haired exotics, while the dogs include four French bulldogs, a poodle, a Boston terrier, a Chihuahua, a Rottweiler, a Doberman, a Jack Russell terrier, a Shiba Inu, a Pomeranian and the Pomeranian's two puppies.

 

Two of the 70 animals seized Tuesday from a boarding and breeding facility in Surrey, B.C., have been euthanized.

SPCA chief enforcement officer Marcie Moriarty says one cat and one kitten were put down.

 

She says they were in such distress that veterinarians had no choice but that the remaining 54 cats, 12 dogs and two puppies remain in the society's care.

 

Moriarty says a warrant issued to seize the animals has been sealed so she can't say much about the case or comment on what led officials to the property.

 

She says staff are focusing on treating the animals and making them comfortable while completing the investigation and forwarding a report to Crown for possible charges.

 

The seizure in Surrey comes just over a week after the SPCA seized 66 dogs from an alleged puppy mill in nearby Langley. 

 

Those dogs are doing great, but require further treatment before they can be adopted, Chortyk said.

 

"They've all been groomed and bathed and they're undergoing ongoing treatment," she said.

 

Some of the dogs fear humans because they spent their entire lives in cages and will need rehabilitation, Chortyk explained.

 

"But they're amazing animals and as soon as they're healthy, we'll put them up for adoption and hopefully they'll get amazing homes," she said.