Resident speaks out on SPCA dog case

FORT NELSON, B.C. – A Fort Nelson resident who claims to have called in the tip about the dogs taken by the SPCA says there’s more to the story than the organization has released.

In a post on Facebook Tuesday, Mandy Rowsell says she was making her monthly gas meter rounds last week when she noticed no tracks were going in or out of a residence since her previous visit the month before. When she approached the door, she says the sound of what she thought was three or four dogs came from behind the door.

Worried that the occupant may have died, she called the RCMP. Rowsell says a constable contacted her, saying he checked on the residence and thought there were about 30 dogs inside. The constable said they had contacted special units down south to help deal with the matter.

On Thursday morning, she saw SPCA vehicles and police at the residence at 9 a.m. They were still at the residence by lunchtime, and they said over 70 dogs had been removed already.

Rowsell was told these dogs had never been outside. The SPCA workers were in full Haz-Mat suits and there was up to two feet of waste covering the floors. She says the homeowner did not willingly surrender the dogs as was indicated in the SPCA release.

The owner may have surrendered them, but not willingly, Rowsell believes.

“In the end, she was probably like, ‘yeah, take the dogs’ because she had no choice. But she didn’t call herself in; she didn’t give up those dogs,” says Rowsell.

According to Rowsell, this is not the first incident involving the resident.

“The officers told me she goes by different aliases. She’s not allowed to own dogs. She’s already done this multiple times and is now using fake names to get dogs.”

Rowsell says while she appreciates the SPCA’s work, she feels they need to step up.

“What they did was amazing; it was crazy. To see the number of dogs and the work they were putting into it, I totally appreciate and respect that. I just feel like they’re leaving a lot out, and I don’t appreciate that.”

A Change.org petition has been started calling for charges and a ban on keeping pets for the individuals involved in the case. In 3 hours, the petition has almost 300 out of the 500 signature target.

The BC SPCA and Humane Canada were not available for comment after multiple attempts from Energeticcity.ca.