Dad loses custody for being concerned....

This is ridiculous...

A Vancouver Island dad has lost custody of his two young girls, as well as had his time with them severely curtailed, after he blew the whistle on his ex-wife's illegal use of a kitchen spatula to punish the grade schoolers.

Provincial Court Judge Bruce Macfarlane awarded sole custody to the mom last month-- tossing out the couple's interim joint-custody order -- on the grounds the kids' feelings for their dad had soured after he told police and the B.C. Children's Ministry about the utensil spankings.

I have withheld the family's name to protect the privacy of the kids.

Macfarlane conceded that repeatedly beating the youngsters on the bum with a household "spank spatula" for several years, "was a serious matter and against the law."

"The use of an instrument to discipline a child is unacceptable under any circumstances," he said, echoing part of an earlier finding by the Supreme Court of Canada.

But he rejected the dad's assessment that the corporal punishment amounted to child abuse.

Instead, he scolded the 47-year-old for tattling to authorities rather than discussing his concerns with his ex -- a more diplomatic, rational approach, according to Macfarlane, who has since retired.