Provincial Animal Welfare ActOSPCA, (March 1, 2009)
At Queen's Park on April 3, 2008, Community
Safety and Correctional Services Minister Rick Bartolucci
tabled Bill 50, the 'Provincial Animal Welfare Act' to amend
the 89-year old Ontario SPCA Act. On March 1, 2009 the Ontario
government proclaimed Bill 50 into law.
The amended Ontario SPCA Act widens the definition
of animal cruelty, improves the Ontario SPCA's ability to address
critical animal welfare issues and allows our investigators
to bring more abusers to justice. Now Ontario has some of the
strongest animal welfare legislation in the country!
Key changes include:
- Establishing new provincial offences against
animal cruelty, including causing or permitting distress.
- Providing judges with greater flexibility
to impose stiffer penalties, including jail time, fines up
to $60,000
and a potential lifetime ban on animal ownership.
- Providing inspection powers to the Ontario
SPCA; allowing investigators to inspect premises where
animals are kept for the purposes of exhibit, entertainment,
boarding, sale or hire.
- Permitting the Society to apply for custody
of an animal victim while a case is still before the courts.
- Expanding the standards of care to be applicable
to all animals, not just dogs and cats.
- Requiring veterinarians to report suspected
animal abuse or neglect with protection under the law.
- Making it an offense to train an animal to
fight with another animal or to own animal fighting equipment.
- Making it an offense to harm a law enforcement
animal, such as a dog or a horse.
The Ontario SPCA is one of the largest and most responsive animal
welfare organizations in the country, representing a network
of 50 communities across the province. While it is unfortunate,
the fact remains that we investigate more than 16,000 allegations
of abuse and neglect yearly. As a result of those investigations
alone, more than 9,000 animals come into the Society's care
requiring veterinary care, sheltering and re-homing.
Our peace officers province-wide investigate
heinous crimes on a daily basis. A recent cockfighting case
in East Gwillimbury, which received wide-spread media attention,
is one such example. With the proclamation of this legislation,
new provincial offences for the training of animals to fight
and the ownership of animal fighting equipment now exist.
We see unimaginable cruelty on a daily basis.
This new legislation gives us hope that we can decrease abuse
and save more lives. This is an historic day in animal welfare
for the province of Ontario and for the Ontario SPCA. The Society
looks forward to working on behalf of Ontarians to address concerns
for the well-being of all animals.
To learn more visit
www.ontariospca.ca
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