Provincial vet knew of dog shelter problems a week before animals rescued

A City of Winnipeg animal services officer had called the provincial Chief Veterinary Office a week before one dead puppy and four dogs were removed from a dog rescue director's home on Tuesday, CBC News has learned.

The city says a complaint was received by its Animal Services Agency on Aug. 2 and an officer went to the Valley Gardens home on Aug. 3.

The animal services officer did not enter the home but a ticket was issued for having excess animals without a permit. The officer also reported the conditions of the home to the Chief Veterinary Office's (CVO) animal care line on Aug. 3.

The provincial veterinary office says it sent one of its animal protection officers to conduct an inspection based on the call from the city, but details of what happened cannot be released at this time because of the current investigation, according to a statement sent to CBC News on Thursday.

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The CVO statement did not explain why it took a week before the animals were removed from the Valley Gardens home.

The provincial office says it sent officers back on Tuesday after receiving another complaint that day, and that's when they took action to protect the animals at the home.

'Raw open wounds' found on one dog

One member of the dog rescue community is saddened, but not surprised about the time that elapsed between the ticket being issued and the animals being rescued. 

"I can understand how it happened, I just wish to God that it hadn't," said Sally Hull of Hull's Haven Border Collie Rescue.

Hull added that the public should petition the province for more funding, as she believes budget cuts to the CVO may be the reason for the delay between the City of Winnipeg's complaint and the province's response a week later. In an emailed statement, the province said there have been no cuts to the animal welfare program.  

Hull believes her phone call to the CVO on Tuesday, which was at least the second complaint about the Valley Gardens home, triggered the province to send officers. She said she lodged her complaint after seeing pictures on social media of people trying to get animals out of the house.

The conditions at the home indicated neglect, Hull said.

"One dog looked like she was basically being eaten alive by mange," she said. "Her entire body was just raw open wounds."

Number of dogs involved varies

Another local dog rescue director told CBC News on Tuesday that five dead puppies were discovered at the home, along with 10 to 15 other dogs found alive suffering from various degrees of illness.

Neighbours said they witnessed officials remove roughly 12 dogs in crates from the home.

Dr. Colleen Marion, a companion animal welfare veterinarian with the Chief Veterinary Office, said Wednesday that her office is investigating claims about the number of dogs involved and admits that some animals were taken by other people before the animal protection officers arrived.

Hull said she worries that proper care and investigation protocols may not have been followed because some of the animals were taken out of the home prior to the arrival of provincial officials. She worries those animals could be at risk.

"Some of them went out to other groups and some of them went all over the place and many of them have not seen a vet. So if they are carrying any form of disease or anything, any of the foster homes that took them in could be at risk," she said.

On Thursday, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said he is concerned about the situation but added that he is not convinced additional funding would eliminate the problem. 

"I've already instructed [our minister] to look at ways to innovatively find some solutions to this problem, but simply throwing money at it isn't going to solve it," said Pallister. 

The CVO has yet to release any updates on any additional deceased animals or indicate if charges will be laid in the case.