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We wanted to celebrate with you today that we are now halfway through 2019, and thanks to your support it’s shaping up to be a very good year for animals. In the past few weeks Canadians saw progress on four new measures that advance animal welfare to become law – signaling a significant shift in the way we are thinking about the legal framework that governs animal protection.
Recently, animal welfare has not been a high priority for Canada’s law makers. Instead, it’s been a lighting rod issue that caused division and frustration. For 20 years now, we’ve struggled to update the simplest piece of legislation that protects animals – the animal cruelty section of the criminal code. It was originally enacted in the late 1800s. It’s sorely outdated and is out of step with modern Canadian life, animal welfare science and criminal law.
On Monday June 17th Bill C-84, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code pertaining to Bestiality and Animal Fighting, passed through Parliament and into LAW!
This law does two things. It broadens the definition of bestiality in the Criminal Code making any sexual contact with an animal illegal. Bill C-84 signals Canada’s new priority on fighting animal crimes, which protects animals AND people too. What makes it ground-breaking is it that anyone convicted of animal sex abuse will now be required to register on Canada’s national Sex Offender Registry and to report annually to police.
This is a crucial improvement to our laws because sexual predators often use animals to groom or control the children and other vulnerable people they abuse. A recent report from the Center for Child Protection found that 87 per cent of the bestiality cases it studied also involved the sex abuse of children.
Tracking animal sex offenders protects children from their abusers by recognizing how violence against humans is linked to violence against animals. This is a Canadian first!
Secondly; encouraging, aiding or assisting in the fighting or baiting of animals is now an offence under the Criminal Code. Any person found breeding, training, keeping and transporting animals for fighting, as well as profiting from these fights will be subjected to criminal offence charges. This law protects communities, as animal fighting is often linked to organized crime. Bill C-84 also breaks new ground by extending animal fighting laws beyond cock fights to include all animals. It’s now a crime not only to attend an animal fight, but also to organize and host fights, train animals, broadcast fights or profit from the crime in any way.
Police know that dog fighting is usually associated with other criminal and gang activity. This is another way that Bill C-84 helps people while saving innocent animals from deadly cruelty.
Canada’s ‘Free Willy’ law Bill S-203 has also passed and bans the captivity of whales and dolphins. The Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act was first introduced by Humane Canada, now-retired senator Wilfred Moore, Elizabeth May and Phil Demers in June 2015. It faced backlash and opposition but thanks to your support we kept the momentum going.
There is abundant scientific evidence that the confinement of whales and dolphins causes physical and mental pain and suffering and therefore fails to meet their health, behavioural and environmental needs.
For the first time in North America, law makers have recognized that banning the capture and confinement of whales and dolphins doesn’t go far enough. The Canadian Parliament is also moving to ban the breeding of captive whales and dolphins!
This is a critical step to ensuring that we don’t end up with a Beluga whale farm in southern Ontario. Currently Marineland holds more than 50 beluga whales and is actively breeding them for trade. Once S-203 takes effect, this abhorrent activity will be illegal. Then, hopefully those belugas can be re-homed in a marine sanctuary.
The third bill passed in June is Bill C-68 which bans shark finning – a cruel and devastating practice whose only purpose is to provide what some people consider an exotic snack.
Shark finning is the act of removing fins from sharks and discarding the rest of the shark. They are often still alive when discarded, but soon drown because they are unable to swim without their fins.
Ninety per cent of global shark populations are now depleted and Canada is the third largest importer of shark fins outside of Asia. It is high time that we show leadership on this important conservation and animal protection issue.
This bill underwent extensive studies by the Fisheries and Oceans Committee, which held more than 17 hearings and heard from more than 40 witnesses between February and October 2017.
The bill was under threat multiple times and again your support of our work helped this bill move through and cross the finish line.
And finally the work continues to ensure Bill S-214 continues to move forward, which bans cosmetic testing on animals and is an important step forward in protecting them from needless pain and suffering. Cosmetic testing on animals is not required. It is not necessary. It causes pain, suffering and death. This is all for the sake of vanity (and greed).
Each one of these new bills is important. Together, they indicate integrated thinking in Canadian policy on animals, people and the environment. However, the situation still falls short of a comprehensive legal framework. There is a need to review of all laws that govern animal protection and a strategic approach to modernization.
But for now – June is looking like a good month. We look forward to a progressive future for the welfare of animals in Canada.