Puppy Mills = Puppy Cruelty

As a donor who has helped make a difference in our work we wanted to share with you a new project that promises to help change the landscape for our companion animals.

Animals are caught in a cycle of violence with women and children. Perpetrators neglect, harm, or kill pets to control their human victims. But the system doesn't recognize the link so women with pets endure abuse longer, children step in to protect pets and families are forced to stay in the violence or surrender pets to get to safety. We will provide education and training to social and legal services on links between human-animal violence with new tools to protect animals and people together.

Challenge

Women, children and animals are inextricably linked in cycles of violence including domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault and violent serial crime. 89% of women in shelters report the perpetrator abused their pet, 100% of serial predators commit acts of animal cruelty and 47% of women delay leaving an abuser because they can't take their pets. But the system treats animal cruelty as a minor social ill addressed in isolation leaving animals and people vulnerable to greater victimization.

Solution

CFHS will form the first national task force dedicated to building a social safety net that includes animals, supports people with pets and ensures women can flee violence with their pets at their sides. CFHS will design and deliver training modules addressing the links between human violence and animal violence for people working in child protection, domestic violence prevention, enforcement and legal services with specific tools and tactics for recognizing and addressing the link their work.

Long-Term Impact

We will offer ground breaking education and training to 144 police forces in Canada, the 627 women's shelters, ending violence professionals and social workers, veterinarians, crown prosecutors and all animal welfare agencies, directly assisting the more than 3,900 women in shelters annually who own pets flee violence sooner and keep their pets with them. No animal will be left behind to suffer in harms way of an abuser and no woman has to return to an abuser to protect her pet.

Click here to support this work and ensure no animal is left behind!

On October 5th at 6:35 p.m. 198 of Canada`s elected federal representatives voted down the first significant changes to the animal welfare laws since 1892.    Bill C-246 known as the Modernizing Animal Protection would have helped bring Canada’s animal welfare laws into the 21^st century and now we have to start over.   It would have closed loopholes that more often than not, allow the raising and breeding of dogs in substandard breeding operations.   This results in terrible suffering for dogs being bred, as well as poor health, welfare, and socialization of the puppies produced, which may lead to their relinquishment and euthanasia.

We fought hard for Bill C-246, which would have kept puppy mill owners from being convicted in one province and moving across the border to start their operations again, protected animals from sexual abuse and shut down dog fighting rings. This bill would have brought Canada’s animal cruelty laws into the 21^st century but now we have to start over.

I am so disappointed.  I sat in the public gallery last night and watched and I want to let you know it strengthened my resolve to be a voice for those who can’t speak for themselves and fight even harder to change these laws but I can’t do this work without you in our corner.  Humane societies and SPCAs across Canada investigate an estimated 103,000 animal cruelty complaints each year and this can`t continue.

Thanks to you and your continued donations, there is a silver lining.  While Bill C-246, the Modernizing Animal Protections Act, was defeated by the House in September, Canadians spoke loudly in support of improving our outdated animal protection laws and an issue that was not on our government's agenda is now front and centre, thanks to the incredible outreach efforts of compassionate Canadians of all political stripes. 

I am now meeting with the Justice Minister’s office about their promise to consult the Canadian public

and review the animal cruelty provisions in Canada’s Criminal Code to make it easier to convict those who wilfully neglect animals in puppy mills and advocating for a new clause that will see dogs seized in puppy mill cases moved to their forever homes quickly.  In some provinces dogs and puppies seized under the criminal code have to be kept in care until the case is resolved which means they can be kept for years in what amounts to a massive warehouse, as a case winds its way through the criminal justice system.

In this past year we have consulted with those working in the area of puppy mills and

developed a methodology and strategy for the collection of the data needed. Our strategy includes raising the profile of the issue and advocating for meaningful action on the part of all relevant authorities. Our members can use the report to approach decision-makers to advocate for stronger legislation and other solutions or tools to prevent the unethical sourcing of dogs.      

Where your donation plays an important role is by providing solid data identifying the scope and scale of the problem, outlining the challenges in protecting puppy mill dogs and identifying solutions.

This report would be a comprehensive reference document about substandard breeding in Canada, including:

• the animal welfare issues and costs to society
• relevant legislation, regulations and standards
• current tools and solutions being used
• a first estimate of the scale of substandard breeding operations in Canada
• recommendations for decision-makers 

Better regulation of breeding operations and practices is needed, as are resources for enforcement. Advocating for improvements to regulation and resources will require evidence and strong arguments to sway decision-makers. An investigation of the scale of online puppy sales in Canada would provide a first estimate of the number of irresponsible breeders in Canada as a step towards identifying the scale of the issue and the number of animals implicated.

Your donation today allows us to keep working towards eliminating puppy mills from Canada.

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