Air Canada Pilot Arrested for Dognapping

[turbo-beaver]

Brenda Campbell traced her beloved golden retriever Palooka to A Better Life Dog Rescue.
Photograph by: Courtesy, PNG
METRO VANCOUVER - Two women associated with a Surrey “dog rescue” charity have been arrested and charged by RCMP after a bulldog called Samson was snatched from the back yard of a Coquitlam home.

Police say they believe the same people, dressed in “very official-looking” uniforms bearing the words “animal welfare,” were behind a number of other dognappings.

Janet Olson, 58, the founder and director of A Better Life Dog Rescue; and co-director Louise Reid, 59, were arrested by Surrey RCMP on Nov. 21 after undercover police watched Samson being stolen.

Cpl. Drew Grainger said police are now investigating whether the group was involved in a series of dognappings in recent years.

He alleged Olson appeared to be running an organization that stole dogs and adopted them out for a fee.

Surrey RCMP say they want to hear from anyone whose dog went missing or from people who have dealt with A Better Life Dog Rescue, a federally registered charity. The group claims to have “rescued” more than 1,000 dogs.

“The pair allegedly targeted homes with a seemingly healthy, unattended pet in the yard, [would] don official-looking uniforms presenting themselves as an ‘animal welfare’ service, take steps to disguise the licence plate of the vehicle they operated and proceed to remove the pet from the private property without any judicial authority,” Grainger said.

Police haven’t been able to locate other stolen dogs but are hopeful they will find them.

“This is a public awareness request that we are looking for anybody for whom this might trigger a memory, a suspicious adoption, or even if their pet went missing or if they witnessed something suspicious with a neighbour’s pet being removed,” he said.

Olson and Reid were both charged with break-and-enter and theft under $5,000 in relation to the theft of Samson.

Olson has also been charged with theft relating to another dog stolen in Surrey on April 13. Calls to Olsen, who works for Air Canada as a pilot, and two directors of the group were not returned.

Readers share tales

A number of people are now coming forward with stories about how their dogs were stolen and later tracked to A Better Life Dog Rescue.

Shortly after the story about the charges broke, The Vancouver Sun was inundated with calls and emails from people who said they had filed complaints with various police departments for years.

There’s also a Facebook group called No Better Life, where dognapping victims are trying to track down their pets.

Many who contacted The Sun said that in trying to trace their missing animals, they had been assisted by other animal welfare groups that pointed them to A Better Life Dog Rescue.

Some members of the group have been under investigation before for alleged dognapping.

In 2009, two directors, Rita Mashinsky and Keira Blunden, were arrested and charged with breaking into a Surrey garage where a dog was being kept. Mashinsky was sentenced to a day in jail and two years’ probation. Charges against Blunden were stayed.

In an interview with a Province reporter in 2009, Olson said Mashinsky tried to convince the dog’s owners to sell it but “did a very stupid thing” in trying to steal the dog. She said Mashinsky convinced Blunden to help her, but did not tell others in the group what she was planning.

Among those who contacted The Sun on Thursday was Anne Gardiner, who said her two dogs were stolen from her Redmond, Wash., back yard on Thanksgiving Day two years ago. She eventually tracked her dogs, Lady and Lucky, to A Better Life Dog Rescue, which had “re-homed” them with a woman in Cloverdale.

She said the charity, on a now-defunct website, considered anyone who left their dogs outside in a yard for more than four hours “an animal abuser.”

By the time police intervened, Gardiner’s dogs had again disappeared.

“I was met with absolute belligerence. I was portrayed as a dog abuser. My dogs were found in Cloverdale but I never saw them again,” Gardiner said.

Gardiner said other dog owners in Washington had similar experiences and have now formed a group that tries to keep track of dogs that are connected to Olson’s group.

Brenda Campbell has her beloved old golden retriever Palooka back. But two years ago, the family dog was stolen from her back yard.

It took an 18-day search and an online tip from a dog lover to track Palooka down to A Better Life Dog Rescue. By that time, the dog had been renamed and sent to an adoptive family. A rescue shelter in Chilliwack learned of the case and reunited Campbell with Palooka.

The adoptive family told Campbell they paid A Better Life Dog Rescue $250 after they were told Palooka came from an Asian man who was going into a nursing home and that his wife had died.

She said she never pursued a case against A Better Life Dog Rescue because she was simply grateful to have Palooka back.

“I now never let her out of my sight. Ever,” she said.

James Lucas has a similar story. In August, two women dressed in “animal welfare” uniforms were seen taking his border collie cross, Kate, from the front yard of his Tsawwassen home. Within a day, the dog was shipped to a Mission woman, and later “adopted” out to a man who discovered the dog was stolen after he read Lucas’s plea for help in a Craigslist ad.

After police intervened, Lucas said he retrieved a veterinarian’s file that showed the dog had been taken for a checkup by Olson.

He said he has emails from Olson saying she thought the dog was being mistreated.

In the latest case, Grainger said members of Surrey’s Property Crime Target Team watched last week as two suspects entered the Zuffa family’s back yard in Coquitlam dressed in bogus uniforms and then tried to leave with Samson.

The women were immediately arrested. Police took Samson to a vet to be checked and immediately returned him to his rightful owners, Grainger said..

[KAG]

pension top up?

[whiteguy]

How does the fact she works for AC have anything to do with the story?

[whipline]

Interview Fail Blog

So tell me, what do you do in your off time? Well sir, I like getting dressed up in uniform and steal other people's dog's. It's good fun, you should try it

[KAG]

How does the fact she works for AC have anything to do with the story?

It's kind of funny.

[oh yeah baby]

Looks like the cog test has its limit

[Understated]

Janet Olson, 58, the founder and director of A Better Life Dog Rescue; and co-director Louise Reid, 59, were arrested by Surrey RCMP on Nov. 21 after undercover police watched Samson being stolen.

Hey Ken: It looks like you may qualify to be rescued...

http://www.abetterlifedogrescue.com/?page_id=2

About us

A Better Life Dog Rescue is a group of volunteer animal lovers who help homeless neglected and abused dogs find caring, responsible homes. With the invaluable assistance of our foster homes, A Better Life Dog Rescue has been able to rescue and rehome over 1000 dogs to date. Many of our dogs are found as strays or abandoned at vets, kennels, rental properties and drug houses. Many were due to be euthanized at kill shelters. We have rescued sled dogs who were left on their chains to starve to death. We have taken in puppymill dogs who have been bred nearly to death. Many dogs are surrendered to us by families no longer able to care for them. All our dogs are provided with veterinary care, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, tattooed or microchipped and provided with training where necessary. They are then adopted into suitable loving homes, giving them a second chance at a better life.

At A Better Life Dog Rescue we believe every dog deserves to be treated as a cherished member of the family. Dogs are pack animals and suffer greatly by being chained, penned or otherwise excluded from their family, even for short periods of time. Being included inside the home is essential for a dog’s emotional and physical health. It is just as cruel to starve a dog of their emotional needs as it is to starve them of food and water. Our adoptive homes must meet our very high standards of compassion and commitment to their new family member.

A Better Life Dog Rescue depends on the generous support of caring and compassionate people to continue our mission of rescuing and rehoming neglected and abused dogs. As we have no paid staff and no overhead costs, every penny donated to us goes directly to the health and welfare of our dogs. ABLDR is a federally registered charity and tax receipts are issued for all donations we receive.

[whiteguy]

How does the fact she works for AC have anything to do with the story?

It's kind of funny.

Wonder how funny it would be if it was a WJ pilot and this was posted in the WJ forum?

Suggest this thread be closed since it really has nothing to do with aviation!

[azimuthaviation]

sounds like the first half of a cartoon movie.

[TG]

Looks like the cog test has its limit

Exactly my thinking.
So yes, this topic as something to do with aviation

[Cat Driver]

I wonder if she will be a problem for the fly past 60 group?

[Inverted2]

I think that was about the only question that they DIDN'T ask on the exam.

I remember "Do you want to be a florist?" But I don't remember "Do you aspire to be the kingpin of a dog theft ring in your spare time?"

[KAG]

How does the fact she works for AC have anything to do with the story?

It's kind of funny.

Wonder how funny it would be if it was a WJ pilot and this was posted in the WJ forum?

Suggest this thread be closed since it really has nothing to do with aviation!

I'd still laugh and make a quip about our stock price being down. It's not a AC thing, it's just funny thats it's a pilot, ANY pilot. or maybe I just have a dark sense of humor, But sometimes you just have to laugh at just how damn stupid people can be.

[Doc]

Obviously a total BITCH!

B&E is a criminal offence. No more red card. No more international travel. If Air Canada has any balls at all....no more pension?

[shitdisturber]

Wonder how funny it would be if it was a WJ pilot and this was posted in the WJ forum?

Suggest this thread be closed since it really has nothing to do with aviation!

That's why it's in the Water Cooler which doesn't have to have anything to do with aviation.

I do admit to finding it somewhat amusing that the pilot in question was working for a company that does psychological testing before hiring and not for one of the many companies that doesn't.

[short bus]

she's 58, don't think they did those tests back then....

[shitdisturber]

she's 58, don't think they did those tests back then....

More than likely you're right, unless she came across to Big Red in one of the many "border raids" that the majors carry out on each other. That being said, I'm still enjoying the irony.

As a long time dog owner who's been without a dog for the past year for the first time in about 20 years; I'd also be more than happy if she and her dog napping buddies were, as we used to say in the military, shot and pissed on! Sadly, all they're likely to get is a fine.

[turbo-beaver]

I found the article interesting because we finally have found an Air Canada pilot that is focused on something other than 1. Themselves or 2. merger, or 3. fly past 60 with a real sensitive side towards our 4 legged friends.
Not that I agree with her approach, just that I think there are perhaps a lot of other ways she could direct her energy towards helping critters by perhaps volunteering to the SPCA or something that does not involve dognapping Rover from the yards of their owners.
I wonder if she has ever seen the doggies in the windows in the back streets of Korea and China, where they sell the little rascals by the pound and have them for dinner..........