Wildlife Conservation Canada Project #9826

Animal Cruelty Legislation

by Humane Canada

Project Report | Mar 8, 2018
3 pieces of legislation promise change for animals

By Derek Rumboldt-deLouche | Director, Resource Development and Member Services

Much of the work we need to do together this year is focused on legislation. And as politicians gaze out their windows on Parliament Hill, they’re starting to dream of summer recess. They’re making plans to return to their home ridings, and spending time with their family and friends.

What does that mean for us? It means we need to double-down and work extra hard to push necessary changes to legislation before summer recess starts in the last week of June.

We can’t take our foot off the gas, and we need your help to make change.

Your support will help us move the needle on three important pieces of legislation:

Bill S-214, the Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act, would end the practice of testing cosmetics on animals in our country. New cosmetics manufactured or developed by using animal testing would also be banned from sale nationally.

We are also advocating for the passage of Bill S-203, the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act. It is far past time to outlaw the captivity of dolphins, whales, and porpoises in our country. This Bill would do just that. We also must keep an eye on Bill C-68 which was just introduced in the House of Commons that promises to address some of these issues but must be strengthened to be truly effective.

Finally, we need to keep up the pressure on our federal government to act on their promise of criminalizing bestiality and forced animal fighting. When the Modernizing Animal Protections Act (Bill C-246) was defeated in Parliament, we were promised these protections would find a home in other parts of the law. So far, that promise hasn’t been kept.

Your donation allows us to fight for these critical legal changes.

Thank you for being such a wonderful ally in the fight to end animal cruelty. I know that together we can make great strides to create a more humane Canada in 2018.

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Dec 29, 2017
2018 must bring action by Federal Government

By Derek Rumboldt-deLouche | Director, Resource Development and Member Services

Just before the Christmas break Calgary Conservative MP Michelle Rempel introduced a private member’s bill to expand the criminal code definition of bestiality as "any contact by a person, for a sexual purpose, with an animal”.It's time to close the loopholes in Canada's laws when it comes to bestiality, says Rempel.

Bestiality and animal welfare have been linked since a controversial Supreme Court of Canada decision in June 2016 which ruled 6-1 that bestiality is only illegal if it involves acts of penetration. This horrifying loophole has remained open for 16 months while waiting for Parliament to take action to create a broader definition of bestiality under the Criminal Code of Canada. Canada’s animals are open to sexual exploitation unless parliament acts.

CFHS continues to work with the office of the Minister of Justice and we are told that the department and the minister are supportive of the development of a new code. CFHS is also proposing the federal government deal with animal fighting as well at the same time.

Last year, Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith introduced Bill C-246 which would have been the most significant modernization of the laws affecting Canada’s animals. The Bill didn’t make it through the House of Commons, turned down in favour of more consultation blatantly ignoring the fact that this Bill emerged out of a Parliamentary review of animal cruelty in Canada and has been debated for almost 20 years. This consultation has still not been scheduled or defined.

The government also had an opportunity to make this change when new legislation was introduced to clean up Canada’s Criminal Code and remove so called ‘Zombie Laws’ or outdated laws, duplications and inconsistent language. The publishing, distribution or sale of any comics that show people committing crimes is no longer banned in Canada but animals can be sexually abused and willfully mistreated.

There is a strong and sustained will on the part of the Canadian people to see that justice be done for animals in this country. If we all work together we are optimistic the change that animals need will be possible.

We hope we can count on your support in 2018 to ensure we can make these changes occur.

Links:

A Conservative MP is trying to close Canada's bestiality 'loopho

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Dec 4, 2017
Progress towards a humane Canada

By Barbara Cartwright | CEO

Whales

2 bills are currently before Canada’s Senate that promise to dramatically improve the lives of animals in our country and on both bills we are pleased to say we’ve seen some movement.

Bill S-203 which aims to ban the captivity of whales and dolphins had a major win earlier this fall in the Senate of Canada! After threatening to quietly kill the bill, the Senate Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans moved ahead with this important legislation. The Bill would give these deep-diving, intelligent and social creatures the freedom they deserve by banning import, export, public display, live capture and captive breeding in Canada.

Canadians have made it clear that we want and need to end the cruel practice of whale and dolphin captivity, and the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies is taking the lead in getting us there. We supported Senator Wilfred Moore in drafting and launching this bill, we witnessed at the Senate in support of this Bill, and we will work hard to ensure it passes when it goes before the full Senate in the coming weeks. It will not be an easy swim to freedom, and we need your support to keep working toward freedom for these majestic animals. Every day that we wait to pass this bill means that these animals will not be truly free.

Bill S-214 promises to end cosmetic testing on animals. The Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology invited the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies to witness at the hearing on Bill S-214 this fall which aims to end cosmetic testing on animals in Canada.

CFHS works to restrict the use of animals to those areas of research, testing and teaching that do not jeopardize their physical, mental or emotional well-being. CFHS looks forward to the time when animal use in research, testing and teaching becomes obsolete or unnecessary.

While there is progress, we can’t be complacent. There are vocal opponents to these protections for whales and dolphins and animals used in research. Your donation will allow us to keep the pressure on and have these bills passed by the full Senate and moved on to the House of Commons where we know there will be a major challenge.

As the national organization representing Humane Societies and SPCA's in Canada CFHS is the respected voice for animal welfare in Canada. This would not be possible without your donation to our work!

Even with these wins, we are only halfway to the finish line.

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