A woman linked to the largest animal seizure in BC SPCA history has been found guilty of causing distress to animals in her care.
Ivy Zhou operated a breeding and boarding facility in Surrey.
However, after a BC SPCA investigation, 82 animals, including 67 cats, 12 dogs and three puppies, were seized from the facility in February 2016.
Some were in such distress, they had to be euthanized.
At the time, BC SPCA said the owner failed to provide adequate care for the animals.
“Tragically, two of the cats — one cat and one kitten — met, what we call, the definition of critical distress,” said BC SPCA’s manager of cruelty investigations, Marcie Moriarty, in 2016. “That means they were in such poor condition that the most humane thing to do was to euthanize them.”
Zhou will be sentenced at a later date.
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 2016 because it was issued in error.
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WATCH: Aired Wed, Feb. 17, 2016: The SPCA is beginning another animal cruelty investigation today after dozens of cats and dogs were seized from a property in Surrey. As Grace Ke reports, the owner says she has done nothing wrong.
When reached by phone, Zhou denied that she is currently taking in animals.
If convicted, Zhou could face two years in jail and up to a lifetime ban on owning animals.
The BC SPCA investigates more than 10,000 complaints of animal cruelty across B.C. each year.
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