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 Officea 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 wasreceived by its Animal Services Agency on Aug.2 and an officer went tothe Valley Gardens home on Aug.3.

The animal services officer did not enter the home buta 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 provincialveterinaryoffice saysit sent one of itsanimal protection officersto conduct an inspection based on thecall from the city, but details of what happenedcannot be released at this timebecause 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 Tuesdayafter 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.

Hulladded that the public should petition the province for more funding,as she believes budget cuts to the CVO may be the reason for thedelay betweenthe City of Winnipeg's complaint and the province'sresponse a week later. In anemailedstatement, the province saidthere have been no cuts to the animal welfare program.

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

The conditions at the home indicatedneglect, 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 involvedvaries

Anotherlocal 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 isinvestigatingclaims about thenumber of dogsinvolvedand admits that someanimals were takenby other people before the animal protection officers arrived.

Hull said she worries that proper care and investigation protocols may not have been followedbecausesome of the animals weretaken out of the home prior to the arrival of provincial officials. She worriesthoseanimals could be at risk.

"Some of them went out to other groupsand 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 Pallistersaid heis 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 CVOhas yet to release any updates on any additional deceased animals or indicateifcharges will be laid in the case.