Animal Cruelty Legislation

Thanks to your support of our work to update animal cruelty legislation in Canada, it is now an offence to “wilfully and without lawful excuse, kill, maim, wound, poison or injure a law enforcement animal while it is aiding a law enforcement officer in carrying out that officer’s duties; a military animal while it is aiding a member of the Canadian Forces in carrying out that member’s duties; or a service animal.  Bill C-35 has become LAW!

With your donation, the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS) has been able to ensure Bill C-35, better known as Quanto’s Law, passed before parliament dissolved for the election.

Quanto, a police dog, was stabbed to death chasing down a suspect in an Edmonton parking lot in 2013.  His assailant received 26 months in prison after pleading guilty to six charges, including one for killing Quanto.  At that time the toughest available charge was animal cruelty, and the assailant’s short sentence prompted concerns about the limited laws around service animal cruelty.

With public support behind us CFHS jumped into action. We met Members of Parliament and Senators, consulted with the Justice Minister, hosted events highlighting the importance of the law and spoke in both the House of Commons and the Senate.

C-35 put in place a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment for anyone wilfully injuring or killing animals protected under the new law and a minimum mandatory sentence of six months for those convicted of killing such an animal.  The law applies to police animals, military animals and service animals that assist people with disabilities, removing them from the property section of the criminal code.

At the CFHS we understand and appreciate the bond between human and animals.  We promote respect and humane treatment of all animals believing they should be provided with the highest levels of protection to ensure their health, welfare, and safety. The animals covered in Bill C-35 protect us and provide us a multitude of services.  These are jobs that they do willingly, and sometimes, they make the ultimate sacrifice.

We thank you and celebrate this success with you!   A new Federal government means we need to move quickly forward and ensure more updates are made to our archaic criminal code.  Quanto’s Law is a great first step to protect some animals.  Your support is needed to continuing making changes and to ensure protection for all animals.  

Please subscribe to Humane News for updates on this and other stories on animal welfare and please support our critical work in creating a more Humane Canada.

Links:

• Subscribe to Humane News
• Animal Cruelty Law