Rabbit Advocacy Animal Matters

Cops to ask for more charges against dog rescue

Thursday Dec. 22, 2011 ctv.ca

Mounties have identified several more alleged victims of a B.C. animal rescue they believe has been stealing healthy dogs from backyards and putting them up for adoption.

Surrey RCMP spokesman Cpl. Drew Grainger told ctvbc.ca that investigators will be recommending a number of new charges against the operators of A Better Life Dog Rescue after receiving a flood of tips from the public in response to media coverage of the allegations. "We've had numerous tips, dozens and dozens," Grainger said. "Once this went out, it went viral."

Earlier this month, police announced that Janet Olson and Louise Reid, the co-directors of A Better Life, had been charged in connection with the theft of a dog in Coquitlam. Investigators say they watched as the duo, wearing uniforms reading "Animal Welfare," spirited away a bulldog named Samson from its yard on Nov. 21. Olson has also been charged with stealing a dog from a Surrey property in April.

Police have already said they plan to recommend a third set of charges against the rescue operation for the theft of a dog named Piper from an apartment in February. Piper was returned to his owner, Allison Coyle, in an emotional reunion on Dec. 2. "Piper is my everything. I'm just really excited and happy and it's just been crazy," Coyle told CTV News at the time. "I just don't want to let him go now."

Police say that since then, they have brought a second stolen dog back together with its grateful owner, and more reunions are in the works. Grainger says that police hope to make more charge recommendations early in the New Year concerning alleged thefts throughout the Lower Mainland and in Washington State. Suspicions about Olson, a pilot for Air Canada, and A Better Life date back years.

A Facebook group called No Better Life collects stories from pet owners who claim that their dogs were stolen by Olson. The missing pets include Hunter, an Airedale cut from its chain in a family yard in 2008 and then allegedly put up for adoption through A Better Life.

In an interview with CTV News this month, Olson said that she doesn't steal dogs, but rather rescues them from cruel owners. "These are sentient creatures. They deserve to have their rights protected by society," she said.

A statement posted on the rescue operation's website says that each dog "is legitimately acquired and legally the ‘property' of ABLDR (although we are greatly resistant to the attitude that dogs are considered and treated as property)."

The BC SPCA says it works with more than 60 animal rescue organizations across the province, but will not associate with A Better Life. "They do not fit our standards," Marcie Moriarty, general manager of cruelty investigations, told CTV News earlier this month. "We work with lawful rescues who follow the law."

Note: Jan Olson and Louise Reid are back in the Surrey Courthouse January 22, 2012.  Another rally in support of ABLDR is planned.

February 24, 2015 update: Janet Olson, dog thief and animal activist, given 90-day conditional sentence

Animal Rescue: What It Is and Why You Should Get Involved

Sentient Media https://sentientmedia.org/animal-rescue/

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