What are people's reactions regarding news of all charges being dropped against the Toronto Humane Society?

Thanks for bringing that up.

I for one think we should take a harder look at Canadian Justice System..... have the cameras weren't there then what?!

I remember seeing this story on the news when it first broke. While my ultimate concen is that the animals are treated and kept from suffering as much as possible, I remember saying that this issue really looked like a power struggle between two organizations, one privatized that was in the business to make money, the other publicly responsible for animal welfare in Ontario.

If the government lawyers believe that there were flaws in the case that would have caused most of the evidence to be thrown out of court, they pretty much had no choice but to drop the charges. Yes there may have been neglect happening by the THS, but the OSPCA appear to have messed up and overstepped their bounds. It was a mistake to bring in the media during an arrest and seizure situation, since people are supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty in our society. Finding them guilty by "hanging them" in front of the media was the wrong approach. (I'm sure that if you or I were charged with abuse or anything else, we'd appreciate the chance to defend ourselves from the charge in a courtroom, not have cameras shoved in our face for neighbours to see and pre-judge us...)

Hopefully through all this bungling and bureaucracy, something good will come out of it. They already said that the treatment of animals at the THS has improved dramatically with the replacement of their board of governors. If it remains that way, it can only benefit the animals that come in for the future. At the OSPCA, they will hopefully learn from the experience and see what mistakes were made so they don't have a repeat performance if they have to step in at any other organization. And all of us who heard about the problems and the conditions can help by contacting our minister of parliament and pushing for better legislation that protects animals from possible neglect and abuses.