An Airdrie canine rescue has had numerous canine faraway from its operations after neighbouring companies and members of the neighborhood complained to the Alberta SPCA about obvious circumstances there.
Alberta SPCA confirmed they visited a enterprise in Airdrie together with Airdrie bylaw enforcement and Airdrie RCMP on Tuesday, the place they seized numerous canine that at the moment are in SPCA care.
Robin Crosby mentioned when EJ Rescue moved into the area subsequent door to the enterprise she works at, there weren’t too many points, aside from barking.
On its Facebook web page, EJ Rescue says it’s “committed to doing our best to give dogs in need a better life.”
“They’re licensed by the city to have 60 dogs in there. So you can only imagine the amount of urine, feces, barking distress from the animals,” Crosby mentioned. “Sometimes you’ll herhear them howling or crying for hours and hours at a time.”
She mentioned the scent emanating from the rescue received so unhealthy, her and her colleagues referred to as the SPCA.
“The smell, if you want to talk about smell, it’s putrid. It’s I don’t know if people (will) remember what a bucket full of baby diapers smelled like when they were dirty, but it’s like the high urine and high ammonia,” Crosby mentioned.
The SPCA mentioned an investigation into the enterprise is ongoing.
Global News reached out to EJ Rescue through e-mail and in particular person, nonetheless nobody inside wished to speak with us.
But others within the animal rescue neighborhood have been elevating the alarm about that facility for months.
Alexandra Cerato, vice chairman of Tails of the Misunderstood Canine Rescue Society, mentioned she visited the ability in February.
“As soon as I walked into the building, the smell of defecation and urine was so heavy that I couldn’t even breathe,” Cerato mentioned.
“There was four dogs that came out of the back room that was locked up and they were all emaciated. They were stained with urine. They smelled like feces. They looked in really bad shape and they were hyper crazy coming out because they’ve been locked in little kennels practically the whole time.
“As a rescue director, I think it’s sickening.”
Fosters gone unhealthy
Victoria Ironside approached EJ to foster a canine for a few months.
She says her expertise inside that facility was just like what Cerato noticed.
“And I’m only five feet nine tall and the stuff was piled up past my head. It was blankets. It was food,” Ironside mentioned. “I was looking at it and I couldn’t even figure out what it was.”
When Ironside received the canine house and fed him, she noticed some regarding behaviour.
“He drank the one bowl of water immediately. So I thought, well, maybe he’s dehydrated. So I gave him another. He drank that as well,” she mentioned. “He wouldn’t stop eating the food like he was just like he’d been starving, like he’s not seen food.”
Ironside sought medical and dental information from EJ for the canine earlier than taking him house, and obtained assurances of being neutered, vaccinations, his age, and having microchip ID.
“When I was in the vet office, I asked them to scan for a microchip. There was no microchip, so I was very disappointed in that,” she mentioned. “And I said, ‘Well, then that means to me that do I trust her, that he’s had his shots, he’s dewormed.’”
Volunteers departing
Twyla Johnson is a former volunteer with EJ Rescue. She mentioned circumstances on the animal rescue drove her to go away.
“When a group of us left in 2019, there was 58 dogs in the daycare/rescue at the time,” she mentioned.
“If you put them all in a crate and rotate potty breaks and feedings, which doesn’t happen and it should never be done, there’s not enough space for 58 dogs to live comfortably.”
Johnson expressed cynicism of whether or not any lasting change would come after Tuesday’s go to from the SPCA, RCMP and bylaw officers.
“I don’t know if it’s going to last because it never has in the past, but I want it to last. And I want people to know just how horrible of a rescue they are,” Johnson mentioned. “They’re not rescuing for love.”
Animal rescues are largely unregulated in Alberta, one thing Cerato and others try to vary.
“I have been in talks with a couple other rescues in Alberta about having, mandated by government level, having a system that they approve or disapprove of rescues and following the Canadian SPCA general guidelines of care and such for the animals,” she mentioned.
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Alberta SPCA seizes animals from Airdrie animal rescue organization
