A Maple Ridge woman is suing the SPCA for the return of her animals and $30,000 in damages after those animals were seized during a dispute she was having with her landlord.
In a June 9 B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim, Felicia Allen said she had a three-year lease agreement with Major Singh Khinda for a Surrey horse barn and field starting in July 2021.
What ensued, Allen claims, was a “corrupt and deceptive ploy” to harm her and the animals.
The land was to home four former racehorses — Oliver, Lacey, Star and Coco — and Wilbur the pot-bellied pig, animals she said she rescued from slaughter.
Nine months later, she found out the land was not zoned for such a purpose and filed another claim alleging fraudulent lease. That case is due in court in October.
Allen alleges in the newer claim that Khinda assaulted her, causing her to flee to a neighbour’s for help, her dog following behind.
She said in the claim she was “very traumatized” and taken to hospital by police.
However, police alerted Surrey Animal Control (SAC) the dog was on the loose. SAC officers impounded the dog and went to the barn.
The claim said it was there officers found the four horses and Wilbur. And, the claim said, in consultation with Khinda, a complaint was made to the SPCA.
The animals were seized Jan. 29.
Allen claimed she and two friends had been attending the site twice daily to care for the animals.
On Jan. 30, they arrived to find the animals gone and SPCA seizure notices posted in the barn.
After some court proceedings, the claim said, an agreement was reached April 25 for the return of the animals and a waiving of boarding and veterinary costs.
In April, the claims said, Allen reached an agreement with Shaylene Bedborough to board her animals on land in Surrey. The claim said the verbal agreement was for two small fields next to each other with a fenced pen for Wilbur, located beside two other pigs belonging to Bedborough.
On May 1, an SPCA constable arrived at that site with the horses and Wilbur.
But, the claim said, Bedborough told Allen she had changed her mind, and that there was only one field. Also, the fence separating Wilbur’s pen and a larger pig had been taken down by the latter pig the night before, court documents allege.
Allen noticed the larger pig would run for Wilbur’s food.
The next day, May 2, Allen asked if there would be a reduction in the boarding rate. She also claimed seeing two other boarders' horses in the field agreed to for her horses.
On May 3, Allen received a call from the SPCA saying it had received a May 2 call saying the animals had been abandoned. Allen said she assured the officer they had not been, that plenty of food had been brought, that she attended daily but that there was a boarding dispute.
Later the same day, two horses were delivered to an SPCA barn. Allen reported them and Wilbur as possibly stolen.
While an RCMP officer was sent to investigate, Bedborough showed up at the SPCA barn with another two horses, the claim said.
The claim said the horses, some of which had been together for years, were separated and traumatized.
“The plaintiff was grief stricken and extremely upset,” the claim said.
Soon, the SPCA was urging Allen to find a barn for the horses, something the claim said had become difficult due to flooding in the Fraser Valley two years earlier.
Allen was desperate to avoid a situation in which the horses would be put down, according to court documents, so she went to the BC Farm Industry Review Board. The board did not have jurisdiction in the case so it moved to B.C. Supreme Court, the claim said.
