Since mid-May, well over 2000 emails have been sent to Aurora Council demanding an “independent review” into the actions that led to the horrendous death of Heiniu, a friendly family pet.
Earlier this month the Town of Aurora retained a company named Canine Foundations to conduct an “independent” investigation.
There does not appear to have been any formal Request for Proposal (RFP) from the town. An RFP is undertaken to allow the town to evaluate qualifications, experience, methodology etc and choose the most qualified to meet their mandate.
Question, what is their mandate? No idea as the wagons have been tightly circled since Heiniu’s death on May 4th.
Humane Initiative has looked into Canine Foundations to have a clearer view into who they are, their experience and qualifications. Are they well suited to provide what was promised to the residents of Aurora?
What we found is that the makeup of this review body would not be impartial or unbiased.
The two main investigators from Canine Foundations and Aurora Animal Services are peers. They both are or were Animal Control officers in a municipal setting. This is absolutely a conflict of interest.
As well, one of the two is deemed to be an “expert” in the Dog Owners Liability Act of Ontario (DOLA). This legislation while important in its root intent has been heavily criticized as it can and has been used to lay blame with dogs that in fact not aggressive.
Below, we would like to share with you a letter sent to the Town of Aurora’s General Counsel, Chief Administrative Officer and all Councillors. In the letter, the two main witnesses express their concern that Canine Foundations is not able to conduct a truly independent, unbiased review of the events on May 4.
These witnesses were scheduled to be interviewed by Canine Foundations next week. They have indicated that they feel uncomfortable participating under the current conditions.
Letter sent June 19, 2026 to Aurora General Counsel, Chief Administrative Officer and Councillors:
“We are reaching out to raise concerns in regard to who the Town of Aurora has retained to conduct an independent review of the circumstances of the incident involving Heiniu.
An independent investigation must not only be impartial, but must also be perceived as impartial by the public.
The investigators selected by Canine Foundations are current or former municipal animal control officers whose professional backgrounds closely align with those of the individuals and reporting entities whose actions are under review.
This peer relationship and history creates a reasonable apprehension of bias and undermines public confidence in the investigation’s independence.
Further concerns arise from the known history of one investigator’s role in proceedings that involve the Dog Owners’ Liability Act (DOLA).
DOLA has been criticized for unfairly punishing or labelling dogs that have never shown aggression.
We believe the above justifies our concerns to question the objectivity of Canine Foundations and whether their involvement achieves the collective goal of the undertaking – a clear, unbiased review of the events of May 4, 2026.
We believe that Canine Foundations should be removed as the investigative body in this matter involving the death of Heiniu.
Given the seriousness of the allegations and the public interest in ensuring accountability, we believe the investigation should be conducted by a truly independent third party.
Only such an investigation can provide the transparency, credibility, and public confidence that this case requires.”
WE NEED YOUR HELP – YOU CAN HELP DEMAND JUSTICE
We’ve put together a very simple form that takes less than 2 minutes to fill out.
(Okay, most of you have been telling us it takes less than ONE minute.)
When you do it generates a done-for-you email that goes out to 8 different elected officials and high ranking government employees who can bring about change.
From the Blog
