The recent story in Horse Canada magazine about the state of animal crulty laws in Canada is making me an actitivist today.
I'm from farm stock and have seen this in my community and shed real tears and called the appropriate governing bodies (municipally) and been frustrated to learn how hard it is to affect change on behalf of the livestock.
So I know WHY the woman agreed to board her horse at the farm - just to collect evidence. That's the controversial part of the story linked above, but I gotta say that I too was so frustrated that I would have done the same thing.
I get it. The bar for charges under the Criminal Code is too high, and because of problematic wording like ‘willful neglect’ many SPCA officers will instead opt to pursue charges under provincial animal cruelty acts which carry no real penalties.
So what can we do about it?
February 2016, Ontario Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches-East York) introduced Bill C-246, a private member’s bill, into parliament. Called The Modernizing Animal Protections Act, Bill C-246 sought to make changes to weak areas of the Criminal Code that make it difficult to prosecute animal cruelty and negligence.
It was voted down after lobbying by hunters and angler and cattlemen's associations. We need to start a public awareness campaign to get a public body on side that can counter these organizations. Your thoughts?