A dog at Berger Blanc captured by hidden camera on Enquete. Animals are euthanized on the floor, by unskilled workers without analgesics

Never have I been so shocked after watching a hidden-camera investigative report on television.

Yes, I’ve seen elephants being brutally domesticated in Thailand and savage seal hunt tactics, but never have I seen something like this.

Radio-Canada’s investigative television show, Enquete, went undercover and entered deep inside Le Berger Blanc to reveal some of the most atrocious abuse of animals I’ve ever seen. The privately-run, Montreal animal shelter is used by 10 Montreal boroughs to control the animal population. But what Enquete discovered was that the Berger Blanc is more like a death chamber than the local SPCA. Cats and dogs are brought there when lost, but few return to their owners (less than 40 per cent of dogs, almost no cats returned to owners).

Worse yet, the Berger Blanc claims to euthanize the animals respectfully,  giving analgesics to ease the pain , in the hands of a veterinarian. None of which is the true. The cats and dogs are killed at the hand of unskilled employees, who give the animals lethal injections without analgesics, letting them die slowly and painfully on the floor or in their cages. The Enquete report shows cats leaping across their cages, screaming in pain, sometimes tumbling across the floor until the poison has set in.

The animals are then dragged out to garbage bins outback, that are then stored in a large fridge.

This is beyond cruelty, it is torture.

In response to the report and a protest held in Montreal on April 23, 2011, Agriculture Minister Pierre Corbeil has asked departmental inspectors to look into alleged inhumane practices in euthanizing abandoned pets. In Montreal, the city says it will ask inspectors to increase the number of spot checks at the pound on Henri Bourassa Blvd.

This isn’t enough. Obviously, inspecting the place hasn’t worked, as inspectors have frequented Le Berger Blanc and not seen anything the matter. Either they are blind, woefully ignorant or complicit in animal torture.  Laws need to be changed in Quebec, not just regarding animal control but animal rights. Quebec has puppy mills and idiots who torture and kill their own animals and get off with a mere fine. Animals need rights in the province and in this country and it’s high time we take a stand.