"In an age of 'gotcha' journalism, it's sometimes hard to justify going 'undercover' for a story. Is it fair to the subject to misrepresent yourself, particularly when you're a member of the media and can wield such a hefty hammer? We made that call last summer when we asked reporter Selena Hinds and photographer Mike Aporius to pose as potential dog buyers. That decision was not taken lightly. We decided dog breeding falls into a category of those stories about the vulnerable -- we include animals, children and the elderly in that group although others also qualify -- which cannot be investigated properly without some undercover work. Their efforts resulted in improvements to animal-welfare legislation and a complaint to the Manitoba Press Council. The council upheld our work, saying the story was in the public interest and it was fair of us to go undercover."