A viral video that was shared tens of thousands of times in January sparked a storm of controversy over the treatment of dogs at Windrift Adventures, a long-time dogsled operation in Moonstone.
On Thursday, Georgeina Pierce, co-owner of the Oro-Medonte Township facility, released a video of her own that shows two Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) investigators who seem to contradict some of the key items in a “damning” media release issued by the OSPCA in the wake of their probe of Windrift Adventures.
In the video, which captures a civil conversation between the officers and Pierce, one of the officers conceded some of the information released was “completely inaccurate” and said they were "blindsided" by the timing of the release. The officers apologized to Pierce for the manner in which the media statement was released.
“Typically, there would be a teleconference and we would be involved in the process,” the officer said to Pierce. “… And we would typically know and be able to read it before it went out. We would have been able to correct these mistakes, which were completely inaccurate.”
The other officer said she was unhappy about the unexpected release of the media statement because she had promised Pierce she would be informed in advance of its release. “I just felt really stupid because I had said to you that we would let you know when we had a media release and then the next day one went out, and it was the end of the day and we had no idea.”
One of the officers confirmed, as part of the exchange recorded on the video, that she found out about the media release by reading the OSPCA’s fundraising solicitation email sent out by Chief Inspector Connie Mallory.
While Pierce is frustrated by the way things were handled, she is most upset that the OSPCA, in her opinion, used the incident to attempt to raise money – a tactic that has had “devastating” consequences for her business.
“It is shameful that Connie Mallory has decided to destroy our hard-earned reputation as part of a cynical ploy to raise funds for the Ontario SPCA by lying about what is happening at Windrift Adventures,” Pierce said in a media release that accompanied the video. “We’ve lost major contracts, had many bookings cancel and are receiving death threats from members of the public, all because the Ontario SPCA decided, yet again, to put their fundraising ahead of their animal welfare responsibilities.”
Melissa Kosowan, acting associate director, communications for the provincial office of the SPCA, said the agency stands behind its orders and the way it handled the probe.
“We have conducted a thorough investigation and stand by our findings,” she said in a statement emailed to OrilliaMatters. “As we have stated, we issued orders requiring the owners to provide care for the dogs, including insulated shelter, clean potable water in spill proof containers at all times, appropriate feed as recommended by a veterinarian consulted and veterinary assessments of dogs requiring medical care. That information is accurate and represents the deficiencies that were observed. The care and protection of these dogs remains our top priority as this investigation continues.”
The OSPCA investigation began the day after a video, shot by a pair of GTA visitors, went viral on Facebook. The video depicted a wounded sled dog along with clips of a pair of aged Siberian huskies who looked a bit past their prime, accompanied by inflammatory commentary that suggested conditions at Windrift Adventures were inhumane.
Pierce said the way the OSPCA crafted its media release “made it sound as if the dogs weren’t being fed properly, they weren’t getting water, their houses were no good. The bottom fell out of my world when I heard that. It was worse than the video,” she said.
Pierce told OrilliaMatters that the dogs are her family. “They are my babies,” said Pierce, choking back tears. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
She said the OSPCA and township bylaw officials annually inspect her property and had never asked her to provide spill-proof containers, attach flaps on the dog houses, put more straw in the houses or to supplement the dogs’ diet of raw meat with kibble. Despite that, she has complied with the orders.
Kosowan said “the investigation is ongoing.”
