Wolf to keep fighting SPCA

Alex Wolf says he's still hungry for justice. Wolf, who served as executive director of the SPCA from June to November 1994, had sued the SPCA and its current boss Pierre Barnoti for defamation, asking for $3,013,000 in compensation for allegedly slanderous statements made about him following his tenure. "They said I am aggressive, nasty, offend people and cause hostilities towards myself," says Wolf, who presented 27 witnesses and 300 exhibits in the 40-day trial earlier this year as he attempted to prove that Barnoti made negative and harmful statements about him in 1994 and 1995.

Unfortunately for him, Superior Court Judge Denis Durocher ruled against his claim on May 15. "It's a horrible judgment. I will appeal," says Wolf.

Wolf says that hostilities against his management style began when SPCA workers complained of an increased workload following his decision to discontinue the practice of euthanizing animals together, a practice he believes violates the decades-old Canadian Humane Slaughter Act. Barnoti neither confirms nor denies the SPCA kills animals in front of other animals. "I'm not going to get into any conversation about Alex Wolf and what he claims," says Barnoti. "The judge has judged and we're very happy with the decision."

Wolf feels differently about the verdict: "I think the judge was wrong. He didn't take the evidence in its totality. Sooner or later there's only so much beating a man can take and I am close to that point."

-Kristian Gravenor