The owner of a breeding and boarding facility in Surrey that was raided by BC SPCA earlier this year could be back in business.
In one of the largest ever seizures by the BC SPCA, 82 animals, including 67 cats, 12 dogs and three puppies, were seized from the facility in February.
Two of the animals – one adult cat and one kitten – had to be euthanized because they were in critical distress.
At the time, BC SPCA said the owner, identified as Ivy Zhou, failed to provide adequate care for the animals and charges would be recommended.
WATCH – Feb. 16, 2016: The B.C. SPCA seize dozens of animals in Surrey.
The seizure wasn’t the first time Zhou has come under the radar of BC SPCA and Surrey city licencing department. Animals were seized and her licence was cancelled back in June 2014 at a North Surrey location. But she continued to operate without a licence. Zhou then reapplied at a new location in Surrey in November 2015 and was approved, but that conditional approval was overturned in December because it was issued in error.
But an online posting that surfaced on Craigslist about a week ago suggests Zhou could be back in business again. It shows pictures of ads for a “pet, grooming and sell service” located on Colebrook Road in Surrey.
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Jaspreet Rehal with the City of Surrey told Global News Zhou does not have a licence to operate her business and they are following up on the posting.
When reached by phone, Zhou denied that she is currently taking in animals.
BC SPCA’s Chief Prevention and Enforcement Officer Marcie Moriarty says she can’t comment specifically on whether Zhou is running her business again, but she can confirm that they have received welfare concerns and that Zhou does have animals on her property again.
“If we receive another complaint regarding animal welfare, we will proceed with our normal process of attending, examining the animals and issuing notices of distress if there are animals that meet the definition of distress,” Moriarty said.
Moriarty adds it is very frustrating for them to see someone like Zhou not getting the message.
After the animal seizure in February, Zhou told Global Mandarin the animals were not mistreated. She even showed the crew the cats’ living quarters.
“I’ve got toys for them and I’ve got food and drink here and litter as well,” she said in February. “They can either stay in the cage or play outside. And I’ve installed an anti-bacterial floor used in hospitals.”
However, Moriarty said that while some facilities may look nice on the surface, they may hide certain dangers – like pathogens and diseases.
– With files from Grace Ke, Jon Azpiri, Catherine Urquhart and Frank Qi