Jan 7, 2009: Is Toronto Humane Society president Tim Trow an animal hoarder?
Trow, along with four others, was charged with animal cruelty.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of animal suffering and neglect uncovered by the OSPCA, Trow denies it: "I've never been unkind to an animal in my life," he told the Toronto Star shortly after his arrest.
But a December 2, 2009, press release by the OSPCA tells a different story. It reads in part: "Internal records show that many animals admitted to the Toronto Humane Society die slow, painful deaths rather than being humanely euthanized according to the accepted standards of veterinary medicine ...."
Trow's mental fitness has also come under scrutiny, as ex-employees and past visitors to the THS share stories of his angry outbursts and irrational behavior. See "Tim Trow Strikes Again!" for an example.
Additionally, Trow seems to be suffering from animal hoarding syndrome.
Now, before you dismiss animal hoarding as something applicable only to "crazy cat ladies" and others of that ilk, consider this:
According to the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, "animal hoarding is a serious mental health issue" that involves acquiring more animals than a person or persons can care for. "Most hoarders do not feel that their actions are endangering the lives of the animals they keep, but rather that they are saving lives."..." More
Nov 28, 2009: A galvanizing tenure at the Toronto Human Society
In the ceiling of Toronto's 11 River St., a cat named Casper lay mummified, frozen in death and trapped in a cage meant to capture live animals.
This address is home to Canada's largest humane society, an organization whose mission it is "to promote the humane care and protection of all animals and to prevent cruelty and suffering."
But this same organization -- the Toronto Humane Society -- is currently under investigation for maltreatment of animals, and its controversial president, Tim Trow, was charged on Thursday with cruelty to animals, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and obstruction of a peace officer.
To be sure, Mr. Trow, whose tenure with the Toronto Humane Society stretches back to the 1980s, is a polarizing character.
He is described by some as a combative dictator whose limited approach to euthanasia has done more harm than good, causing the suffering of kittens like Betsy, whose eye ulcerations had become so bad that sores developed on her cornea. To others, Mr. Trow is a man with an unfair reputation, a volunteer committed to the well-being of all creatures, small and big, wild and domestic.
The heavy-set man in his early 60s is at the centre of an extensive investigation launched by the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which has described the animal shelter as a "house of horrors."
Two cats and two dogs have been euthanized since Thursday's raid on the shelter, while an inspection in June revealed a kitten with a fractured skull and a cat whose skin was peeling away due to liver disease...." More
