Animal advocates are questioning the OSPCA’s motives after the provincial animal welfare agency raided an international dog rescue operation near North Bay last month and then demanded more than $50,000 to return the seized pets.

“This is how they make money: they take your animals and sell them back to you at these extortion-rate prices,” said Rebecca Ashworth, who says she was caring for 71 abused dogs rescued from places like Afghanistan and Iran when they were seized by the OSPCA. “If you can’t pay the costs, they take your house, they take your farm.”

It’s hard to know exactly what the Ontario Society for the Protection of Animals is concerned about. The charity, which receives more than $10 million in public funding each year, wouldn’t comment on the case and wouldn’t release any documents because it isn’t subject to freedom of information laws.

The Star was unable to independently verify what occurred at the Ashworth’s farm on July 13.

The OSPCA hasn’t ordered changes to the quality of care or the upkeep of the grounds at the Laika Fund for Street Dogs that the Ashworths operate on their 12-acre farm near Trout Creek. Instead, it’s demanding $56,000 in boarding fees and veterinary bills before it will give the Ashworths their dogs back.

An OSPCA spokeswoman, Alison Cross, said the “removals of animals are never taken lightly.”

“We always ensure the welfare of the animals comes first. The Ontario SPCA does not profit from seizing animals. These fees are to ensure the animals involved are getting the standard care they require to relief distress.”

The OSPCA’s Cross says the organization seized only 1,724 animals last year after receiving some 18,000 cruelty complaints.

The Ashworths, who have run their rescue operation for abused dogs from overseas for the past two years, say many of their dogs have deformities but they’re all under a veterinarian’s supervision.

“The (OSPCA) walked in and it was like a doggy freak show,” Ashworth said. “Because we have many dogs that have limbs missing or eyes missing … they were concerned that we were mistreating them. We explained to them that many of our dogs arrived in much worse shape.”

Raising the money to get their dogs back won’t be easy. The Ashworths have launched an online crowd-funding campaign and are considering mortgaging their house to avoid the possibility the dogs will be euthanized. Meanwhile, the bill continues to rise by more than $1,000 everyday.

Next week, the Ashworths’ case will be heard by the Animal Care Review Board, which could annul the costs and return the dogs. If the appeal fails, the dogs could be euthanized.

The premier’s office has referred the case to the minister of community safety, Yasir Naqvi.

Naqvi’s spokesperson declined to comment and emphasized that the OSPCA is not a branch of the government, only “an independent organization authorized to enforce animal welfare laws.”

Progressive Conservative MPP Jack MacLaren said the OSPCA is a “private police force” that seizes animals, issues orders and demands fees not to protect animal welfare, but to raise the funds it needs to keep its operation running.

“They don’t have any respect for people and animal rights aren’t well served either,” he said.

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His private member’s bill, which would have given local municipalities and the ministry of agriculture oversight over the OSPCA, was defeated in 2012. But MacLaren says the fight isn’t over.

“The Ashworths’ case isn’t the exception to the rule. It happens all the time all over Ontario,” he said.