Ontario animal shelter rushed to judgment in declaring ringworm outbreak: report

An Ontario animal shelter rushed to judgment in declaring a ringworm outbreak that led to dozens of animals being euthanized just over a year ago, experts said in a report on the incident.

The report commissioned by the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals found there was no evidence to support an outbreak of the infection at the Newmarket shelter run by the society.

“While preliminary evidence may have suggested an outbreak of ringworm, there was no clinical data to support such an outbreak,” society chairman Rod Godfrey said at a news conference Friday.

Staff should have sent tests to an independent lab before sounding the alarm, he said. Instead, there was a “rush to judgment to depopulate” the shelter, he said.

The review found 57 animals were put down for a variety of conditions in early May 2010, though Godfrey couldn’t say how many of those had ringworm.

The society previously reported 99 animals had been killed due to ringworm at its shelter, but those numbers were attributed to flawed records.

Ringworm, a skin infection caused by a fungus and marked by circular lesions and hair loss, is not lethal but experts say it’s difficult to eliminate in facilities with many animals.

Word of a mass cull sparked a public outcry last year that saw animal lovers protest outside the shelter and forced the society to bring in extra security.

Godfrey said the decision to euthanize the animals came from a trained and certified veterinarian, but wouldn’t say whether he thinks it was a mistake.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say (the animals) were killed unnecessarily,” he said.

The vet who made the call no longer works at the shelter, which reopened in April after major renovations, nor do any of the staff employed there at the time.

The report stems from an independent review of the OSPCA’s operations performed by Alan Meek, a former dean of the Ontario Veterinary College, and former Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Patrick LeSage.

They found inadequate policies, procedures, training and record keeping led to the clinic prematurely declaring the outbreak.

The investigators issued a number of recommendations, including the appointment of a chief veterinarian to co-ordinate infection control and other key programs throughout more than 50 communities served by the OPSCA.

They recommend the society overhaul its record keeping system and set clear protocols for dealing with ringworm cases as well as suspected outbreaks.

Decisions to euthanize “must always be made at the provincial level with the input of veterinary personnel,” the report reads.

Meek and LeSage also call for the province to provide funding for the society’s investigation and enforcement services, which currently receive no government money.

“This results in the investigations aspect of the OSPCA’s operation often consuming the budget of its shelter mandate,” they wrote, noting inadequate funds are to blame for many of the society’s problems.

Godfrey said the organization will step up its fundraising efforts to cover the costs of hiring a chief veterinarian and implementing the other recommendations.