Animal Cruelty Legislation

Hello,

Thank you for your continued support of our Animal Cruelty Legislation project. We are happy to share some ongoing developments as we work to improve protections for animals in our country.

Coercive Control Bill C-332 has passed in the House of Commons. It's third reading received an unanimous vote to pass in the House of Commons on Wednesday, June 12th. This bill, which now includes animals, passed with an amendment that further defined what constitutes coercive and controlling behaviour.  Pattern of conduct is defined as “any combination, or any repeated instances” of any of three types of conduct:

• Violence including attempted and threatened violence toward the intimate partner, the intimate partner's child, their animal, or anyone known to them.
• Coercing or attempting to coerce the intimate partner to engage in sexual activity and
• Conduct that could in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to cause the intimate partner to believe their physical or psychological safety is threatened.

Moving quickly, the bill underwent first reading in the Senate on June 13th, we will continue to update you on the progress in the Senate.

In other news, Ontario’s Preventing Unethical Puppy Sales Act (PUPS Act) received royal assent! This Bill will prohibit the operation of puppy mills in Ontario and make it illegal to:

Breed a female dog who is less than 12 months old, or breed before her second heat
Breed a parent dog with any dog in one of their litters or breed siblings from the same parent
Separate a puppy from their mother or substitute mother before the age of 56 days

Humane Canada celebrates the passage of this bill and will continue to advocate for the end of puppy mills, both in Ontario and nationwide.

Finally, we are pleased to share more good news with you! Bill C-355, The Prohibition of Export of Horses by Air for Slaughter Act, passed its third reading in the House of Commons on May 9th. This is another step forward in banning the inhumane practice, as the bill has now moved forward to be considered by the Senate and has completed it's first reading. Bill S-270, whose intent was to address the same issue, has now been dropped so that all efforts to implement the ban can be consolidated. 

Since 2013, more than 40,000 horses have been exported from Canada to Japan for human consumption. Over 2,000 of these horses have been flown to their death since September 2021, despite the Prime Minister issuing a mandate calling on the federal Minister of Agriculture to ban this practice in December 2021. 

Your support matters and we thank you for your generous donation to Humane Canada as we work for positive, progressive change for animals in our country.

Links:

• Bill C-332
• Bill C-355
• Humane Canada

Hello,

We are happy to report to you another success for animals in Canada! Health Canada has banned the cruel use of strychnine poisoning on wildlife, which will take effect by September 2024.  Strychnine has been used for decades - particularly on wolves and coyotes and kills by causing muscle cramps that eventually strangle the animal.

This groundbreaking decision reverses a proposed ruling in 2022, which would have allowed some uses of strychnine to continue. Humane Canada has long opposed strychnine and our work on this issue started many years ago. We are thrilled to see it finally come to an end.

In other news, Bill C-355: Prohibition of the Export of Horses by Air for Slaughter Act moved to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. Some of the members spoke out against the bill, citing concerns that it would cause harm to live horse export producers and that current laws are being followed with respect to the transport of the animals. Other members spoke to the strong support from the public this bill is receiving, with Winnipeg South Centre Member Ben Carr stating that his constituency office was receiving about 30 emails of support for it every minute.

Shannon Nix, from the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food made comments stating that, based on letters to Members of Parliament, petitions that have been submitted and public opinion polls, it appears that Canadians are largely opposed to the export of live horses for slaughter, citing petition E 3187 is one of the most signed e-petitions on record, with more than 77,000 signatures. 

Humane Canada submitted a brief to the Committee which sets out the risks to these animals before, during and after transport outside of the mandated inspections that are completed by CFIA prior to travel. Horses raised for consumption are not predisposed to air travel, which subjects them to further undue stress, and conditions at the other end of their journey are not overseen by CFIA, which poses risks.

Humane Canada is advocating for the inclusion of animals in another Bill, C-332: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (controlling or coercive conduct) which went to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights Committee. Coercive control is a pattern of behaviours that is intended to isolate, humiliate, exploit, or dominate a person. The vulnerability of animals used as tools in coercive control has not been included in the original version of the bill, and Humane Canada has worked hard to change that.

On February 26th, Humane Canada CEO Barbara Cartwright addressed the Committee to remind them that when people are at risk, their animals are at risk because they are often a sole source of support for someone in a violent relationship, which also makes them a target for violence. She finished by saying that abuse towards animals is not always considered by the courts or law enforcement, particularly in the absence of injury. Therefore, enshrining patterns of coercive and controlling behaviour that explicitly includes animals under section 2 would add clarity to the law for law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and criminal justice stakeholders, but more importantly, to victims and survivors. 

On March 18th, we were thrilled to see that our collective efforts resulted in an amendment that ensures survivors' animals are included. This historic decision by the Parliamentary committee acknowledges the deep-seated link between human and animal violence, that if passed will be recognized in the Criminal Code. While we savor this victory for animals and survivors of violence, our mission isn’t over as this bill is progressing towards its 3rd reading in the House of Commons and then onto the Senate.

We know that successes like this aren’t possible without our community. Progress and lasting change can take years of constant effort and is made possible because of donors like you. Please donate to support our continued advocacy work and help create future change for animal welfare. 

Links:

• HC addresses committee on coercive control (at 12:16:30 mark)
• Humane Canada Brief on Bill C-355
• Humane Canada