It’s a dog’s life

A Mirror writer’s experience with controversial animal rescue Paws For Life started with good intentions but went bad when the weirdness began

WHERE DO ALL THE DOGGIES GO? Sophie Fournier with friends
Photo by SHARON DAVIES

“WE NEED TRANSPORT FROM HENRI-BOURASSA TO CORNWALL ON TUESDAY TO HELP SAVE A DOG FROM BERGER BLANC.” This was the text of a Jan. 1 Facebook posting I read from a group called Paws For Life. Full disclosure: I am a sucker for animals.

I offered to transport the dog, a year-old male German Shepherd. What followed was an increasingly bizarre negotiation. I exchanged almost 60 e-mails with the group over the next few days, all from unknown senders.

I soon learned I was I was expected to pay for my own gas (about $70). “I’m sorry we have zero funds that’s why we ask for volunteers,” wrote Paws. I was less than thrilled, but felt so badly for the poor dog I figured this would be my contribution towards saving his life.

I quickly realized I was also expected to buy the dog myself (I was told he would probably cost about $200), and lie to Berger staff about my intentions. “You need to go in pretending you are adopt­ing,” wrote Paws. “All our volunteers have gone many times so we aren’t allowed back in.”

It became clear Paws had no idea about the dog’s temperament, or even whether or not he was sterilized. “Why do you ask?” my anonymous correspondent asked.

Soon, I was asked to buy and transport first a cat, then another dog.

As icky as I was starting to feel about dealing with Paws, I also felt incredibly guilty about these poor animals who were apparently at death’s door, and whose lives were now evidently in my hands. “There is no one else,” I was told. When I tried to back out, Paws replied, “I guess we’ll keep looking for a volunteer and pray the dogs are alive…either you want to help save these dogs or not.” The “sav­ing lives” line seemed to be Paws’ de rigueur response every time I questioned them.

By this point, I had even roped a friend into helping me drive the dog (or dogs) to Ontario. This friend, a fellow animal-lover, was even prepared to go into Berger Blanc and lie in order to help out. “I’m super busy, but if I don’t help this dog now, I won’t sleep for a week,” he told me when I first contacted him for help.

Even though Paws eventually agreed to pay the upfront cost for purchasing the animals, I was becoming extremely uncomfortable with the situation, and starting to feel manipulated. I cancelled the transport, and decided to do some digging as a reporter.

SAVED! NOW WHAT?

After requesting, then rejecting, a list of questions sent via e-mail, Paws for Life declined my interview request. A subsequent e-mail sent to the Mirror on January 10 threatened legal action, alleg­ing I had contacted the group intending to expose them all along, and in doing so, cost “poor, needy” animals their lives.

Last year, local Italian-Canadian magazine Panoram Italia profiled Paws’ founder Melissa di Stefano. In between naming her favorite designers (Dolce & Gabanna, Chanel), she says her passion is, “Saving as many helpless animals as possible,” and then to “take them in, rehabilitate them and then find them loving ‘forever homes.’”

Paws opponents say while the group may save animals, the rehabilitation and forever-homing aspect is sorely lacking, claiming they place unevaluated animals in unsuitable foster homes, then dis­appear, offering no moral or financial support.

And they don’t like where the group puts its money. They argue Paws compounds the animal-welfare crisis in Quebec by buying animals under false pretenses from for-profit pounds with high kill rates like the Berger Blanc (a practice known as “pulling” in the rescue world), thereby increasing the profits of institutions animal lovers want to see shut down.

Dina Leclerc, the owner of doggie spa/boarding kennel Spaws, says she held a dog adoption event for Paws at her business, and has lived to regret it. In addition to hearing multiple horror stories from her clients, she claims she agreed to take in a Puggle named Bentley on a temporary basis before the holidays. Bentley was a Paws rescue who was surrendered to the SPCA after his behaviour issues manifested, resulting in several biting incidents (the foster family had young children). Months later, Bentley remains in her care.

TEMPORARY TO FOREVER, WITH BABIES

In a series of e-mails Leclerc shared with the Mirror, Paws defends itself against her criticisms, claiming they sterilize, vaccinate and de-worm all their animals. A call to Paws’ vet, Hôpital Vétérinaire Savaria in Chateauguay, confirms Paws has a running account with them, but that those who come in are  usually brought by fosters, not Paws volunteers.

Paws also told Leclerc their undercover volunteers “evaluate” dogs by taking photos of them in cages at pounds. “We always ask our volunteer taking pictures at the pound to assess the dog.” Leclerc says evaluating an animal that way is impossible. “You need to put animals in different situations—with men, with women, with children, with toys, with food, in cars.”

“I agree she (Paws founder Melissa Di Stefano) is saving lives,” says Sophie Fournier, who runs Sophie’s Dog Adoption, a 15-year-old rescue that is registered as a charitable organization. “But she is possibly putting them into worse situations, by placing them in homes she knows nothing about.” She says she frequently hears from Paws clients who come to her for help when things go sour with Di Stefano’s group.

People I spoke to reported getting stuck fostering Paws animals with unevaluated behavioural issues and/or undiagnosed medical conditions. Two claimed to have fostered dogs without being told they were pregnant, then needing to find homes for the puppies—without help from Paws. “Temporary” fosters turned into long-term situations. They claimed Paws didn’t try to find ani­mals suitable permanent homes, offering little or no financial help. In cases where fosters decided to adopt the animals permanently, Paws allegedly demanded a $400 adoption fee.

Several people said they only agreed to foster an animal from Paws because they were told the animal would die otherwise. That’s a common Paws tactic, says Fournier, who says Paws regularly adds euthanization dates to their animal profiles. Fournier argues Paws has no way of knowing exactly when pounds will euthanize.

When it comes to dealing with unwanted animals in Quebec, there’s a crowded front-line. For-profit pounds like Berger Blanc sell animals for profit or euthanize them—some 50 a day, according to BB owner Pierre Couture. Non-profits like the SPCA try to keep euthanasia at a minimum (albeit sometimes without success).

Most rescues are independent. Some are more established and certified as charitable or non-profit organizations. Other, unregistered, DIY-organizations exist only on Facebook and Petfinder, a North American pet-specific classified website. Paws describes itself as a foster-based, no-kill rescue, run entirely by volunteers. It is not a registered business or non-profit, but their lawyer says they hope to become a registered charity within the coming months.

In early February, the Paws for Life story broke in other media, including the CBC. While no Paws representatives spoke to the broadcaster directly, they did issue a statement which can be read here: cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/02/02/paws-for-life.html.

OUT OF THE POUND, INTO THE UNKNOWN

Berger Blanc and its owner Pierre Couture are unpopular among Quebec’s animal-rights activists. The pound was widely criticized last year after media reports investigated inhumane animal treatment there. But he says Berger won’t deal with any “underground” animal-rescue operation. “They come in here, they say they are adopting a dog for their family, and it’s not true,” he tells the Mirror. “Then, they give that dog to someone else, we don’t know who.”

Couture says with no way to know where the dogs are heading, the animals’ futures are uncertain, and they may wind up in another pound, or worse. “What’s the point of taking a dog from here if they end up living in a cage again?” he asks.

So how do you know you’re dealing with a reputable rescue? The SPCA’s Tara Garland offers the following tips to would-be animal rescuers: check to see if your rescue is registered as a charitable or non-profit organization and pay attention to word of mouth. “Rescues should be available with advice, equipment and resources, and get back to you within a reasonable time-frame,” adds Garland.

Paws may have its heart in the right place, and they may argue they are saving animals’ lives at any cost—“If you expose that rescues save dogs from Berger Blanc then you might as well say good­bye to saving all those lives,” they wrote to me—but whatever their intentions may be, opponents say they aren’t only causing headaches for those dealing directly with the group. They worry Paws’ approach to animal rescue is giving a bad name to rescues everywhere. “Let’s save as many animals as we can, but in a responsible way,” says Spaws’ Leclerc. ■

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