Montreal, March 3 2016 – Leading animal protection groups across the country, including the Montreal SPCA, worked closely with Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith to develop Bill C-246, a private member’s bill which would make desperately needed improvements to the animal cruelty provisions of the Criminal Code, prohibit the practice of shark finning in Canadian waters, ban the importation and sale of cat and dog fur, and impose mandatory labelling of fur products sold in Canada.
Leading animal protection groups who supporting the bill include Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, Animal Alliance of Canada, Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada, Animal Justice Canada, Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals, Humane Society International/Canada, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Montreal SPCA, and Zoocheck. For more information, please click here.
Canada’s Criminal Code cruelty provisions are outdated and have remained basically unchanged since their adoption in 1892. Consequently, many forms of animal abuse and neglect cannot be prosecuted and certain types of animals, such as wildlife or stray animals, are provided with little protection against acts of cruelty. If adopted, Bill C-246 would consolidate and modernize various offences against animals, closing many loopholes that currently enable animal abusers to get away with hideous crimes. To learn more about the proposed amendments, click here.
“The Montreal SPCA is extremely pleased by the tabling of Bill C-246” said Me Alanna Devine, Director of Animal Advocacy at the Montreal SPCA. “As an organization tasked with applying the Criminal Code cruelty provisions, we know firsthand that the amendments proposed in this bill are desperately needed. Just this week, we opened an investigation into a severely ill and underweight dog who was abandoned in parking lot. Cases of severe neglect such as this one are unfortunately not uncommon, and changes need to be made in order to facilitate the prosecution of these offences” she adds.
The Montreal SPCA is asking citizens to contact their MP in support of Bill C-246.
To learn more about the Montreal SPCA’s investigations and inspections department, please click here.
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Media contact: Anita Kapuscinska, Media Relations Coordinator, Montreal SPCA, 514-226-3932, or anitak@spca.com.
About the Montreal SPCA
Founded in Montreal in 1869, we were the first humane society in Canada and our mission is to:
- protect animals against negligence, abuse, and exploitation;
- represent their interests and ensure their well-being;
- raise public awareness and help develop compassion for all living beings.
For many years, the Montreal SPCA has been working hard with municipal, provincial and federal governments to improve animal protection laws. In 2015, our inspection service investigated 1,339 new complaints and conducted the inspection of 1,945 animals, all species combined. A total of 659 animals were seized as a result of these investigations and several criminal and penal charges were laid.
For more information about the Montreal SPCA, please visit our website at www.spca.com.
