Nicole Joncas Brings her Fight to the Courtroom Posted Feb 26, 2008 by lauraallen International Companion Animal Breeding
"I Left the Mill that night.. yet it has never left me... and never will.."

Nicole Joncas 12/20/2007

by Doc Wheeler and Laura Allen

Nicole Joncas operates Tejas Animal Refuge, in Ontario. She has been a tireless advocate for the animals. She has spent her life rescuing animals in need. Nicole is pictured here with two of her rescued dogs, Angus McTavish and Blaze.

More recently, Nicole has taken on the fight against Quebec's ghastly trade in dogs, better known as puppy mills.

She has repeatedly investigated numerous complaints about one puppy miller in particular, Lamarche & Pinard Corp.

On July 6, 2006 Nicole and 3 others saw first hand a mill operated by Lamarche & Pinard Corp. Nicole obtained video "of a canine hell, where we counted over 400 breeding dogs. We saw injured dogs, sick dogs, dead dogs, dead puppies, burned dog carcasses in the furnace".

Nicole is still haunted by the images.

Nicole explains, "The puppy mill used to be an Ayerst laboratory where testing on animals went on for many years. This broken old building has no heat, no ventilation system. The dogs are left in the dark, and fed only every second day in effort to keep the excrement level down. They receive no vetting at all. The breeding dogs are born there, they suffer and agonize there, and they die there."

Nicole has continued to watch this mill, reporting many violations to Anima-Québec, the agency created under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food ("MAPAQ") to monitor puppy mills. Nicole says, "Rather than apply the powerful P42, a law to close down this puppy mill, Anima-Québec chose rather to guide the millers on how to operate a puppy mill." Though Lamarche & Pinard was fined for 2 violations, Anima-Québec has failed miserably, according to Nicole, in its duty to regulate this mill.

Nicole is not the only one who has tried to get Anima-Québec to enforce the law against this miller. Gilles Potvin, a former Lamarche & Pinard employee, also repeatedly contacted Anima-Québec, about the terrible conditions at the mills, all to no avail.

Nicole has staged demonstrations to draw attention to the puppy mills' horrific cruelty. The demonstrations have attracted more and more people and have received considerable media attention. Yet, L&P has remained in business.

Lamarche & Pinard actually operates at least 2 puppy mills, one in Ste-Justine de Newton, and at 8000 Broadway in Montreal. As a result of public exposure by Nicole, the mills' property is now surrounded by a padlocked fence.

It was as a result of media coverage of the demonstrations that Nicole found attorneys willing to bring a lawsuit against Anima-Québec and MAPAQ for failure to enforce the law against this mill.

Trial is expected to begin in the spring, 2008.

Nicole explains, "The dogs' only hope is this most important lawsuit...With this lawsuit, we're asking the Quebec government, what kind of nation are we?"

In the meantime as a result of the pending case, Nicole has been barred from any contact with the mills, Anima-Québec and MAPAQ.

The Allegations

The case is pending in the Superior Court of Quebec in Montreal. The plaintiff is Nicole's rescue, Teja's Animal Refuge.

The Defendant, MAPAQ, is responsible for administering the provisions of Animal Health Protection Act, R.S.Q. c. P-4. The Defendant, Anima-Québec, was established in May 2002 under Part III of the Quebec Companies Act, with the mission of ensuring the safety and welfare of animals.

At the end of December 2004, MAPAQ entered into an agreement with Anima-Québec to establish an inspection program to enforce the standards set out in the AHPA.

It is alleged that for years Lamarche & Pinard has regularly violated the provisions of AHPA, to wit:

- its dog breeding facility is not ventilated, improperly insulated and insufficiently heated during winter months, to such an extent that the temperature inside the facility often drops to 30 degrees below freezing;
- the facility is often chronically overcrowded, housing as many as 300 and even 400 dogs at any given time;
- dogs bred in the facility are caged in enclosures of insufficient size for any species and are rarely if ever given access to exercise facilities. Some dogs bred at the facility have never been outdoors;
- dogs are routinely left in cages with other sick, dead or dying animals;
- the facility in general and the dogs' enclosures in particular are filthy, rarely cleaned and are often infiltrated with putrid sewage water;
- dogs are not given proper if any veterinary attention, and no records of any kind are kept regarding the health and general welfare of the animals;
- dogs often do not have access to clean drinking water and do not have appropriate quantities of food;
- the dogs are often mistreated and sometimes even beaten to death by L&P attendants;
The lawsuit charges that Anima-Québec's efforts in this case have been "untimely, meaningless and grossly inadequate". The petition charges that L&P has only made cosmetic changes, that the "conditions at the breeding facility [have] persisted to be not only dramatically unsafe for the dogs bred and housed at the mill, but also in blatant contravention of the standards set out in the AHPA". The serial violations by L&P, according to the petition, have gone largely unchecked.

Some history of the regulations

While the AHPA was adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec in 1993, Division IV.1.1 of the Act which deals with the safety and welfare of animals did not come into force until almost ten (10) years later, on February 11, 2002. The key provision of Division IV.1.1 is section 55.9.2 which provides that:

55.9.2 The owner or custodian of an animal shall ensure that the safety and welfare of the animal is not jeopardized. The safety and welfare of an animal is jeopardized where:
1) the animal does not have access to drinking water or food in quantities and of quality in keeping with the biological requirements of its species;
2) the animal is not kept in suitable, salubrious living conditions or is not properly transported in an appropriate vehicle;
3) the animal is wounded or sick and does not receive the health care required by its state;
4) the animal is subject to abuse or ill-treatment that may affect its health;
5) subject to paragraphs 1 to 4, the animal is kept or transported in contravention of the regulatory standards established pursuant to section 55.9.14.1.

Dog breeding facilities have additional obligations pursuant to section 55.9.3 to ensure that the premises in which animals are kept are clean and that the facilities are not organized or used in any way that may affect the safety and welfare of the animals.

Violations of either sections 55.9.2 or 55.9.3 by breeding facilities are punishable by way of fines under section 55.43.1.

In cases where an inspector has reasonable grounds to believe that the safety and welfare of an animal is in jeopardy or immediate danger, the Act further provides for the seizure and confiscation of the animal, in addition to the issuance of an order to cease all breeding activities (sections 55.9.5 to 55.9.7);

In this regard, section 55.9.4 of the Act specifies that the Minister shall designate inspectors responsible for the enforcement of the provisions of Division IV.1.1, and may further enter into an agreement with any person to establish a program of inspection.

Pursuant to section 55.9.14.1, the Minister may fix by regulation standards for the custody and transportation of animals.

To date, no regulations have been enacted. Thus, when Anima-Québec was given the mandate to enforce the safety and welfare provisions of the AHPA pursuant to section 55.9.4, there existed and there still exists no government regulations establishing standards or guidelines for interpreting and enforcing the health and safety provisions of the Act.

For its part, Anima-Québec has prepared and published "Guidelines" regarding the safety and welfare of animals, but has no formal set of standards.

Anima-Québec receives a mere $150,000.00 a year from the Government of Quebec and raises the balance of its funding from donations, although solicitations appear to be restricted to corporate entities. Anima-Québec currently employs only seven (7) people, four (4) of whom are responsible for inspections in the field throughout all of Quebec.

Relief requested

The petition filed in this case states, "There being over two thousand (2,000) large scale breeding facilities known to be operating in Quebec, the Plaintiff can only conclude that the Defendants' failure is not limited to the case of L&P's facility, but reflects an unwillingness or inability to apply and enforce the provisions of the AHPA throughout the Province of Quebec".

Nicole seeks a declaration that MAPAQ and Anima-Québec have failed to enforce the law and an injunction ordering these agencies to do their job.

Puppy mills in Canada

In the past 12 years or so, Canada has seen a proliferation of puppy mills. Some attribute this to stricter regulations in 1995 on the import of U.S. born puppies. At that time Canada passed legislation requiring micro-chipping, vaccinations and a health check by a veterinarian for all puppies imported into that country.

Quebec is generally considered to be the puppy mill capital of Canada. It is estimated there may be more than 2,000 unregulated puppy mills in Quebec with between 20 and 400 breeding dogs.

Prior to the relatively new AHPA, Quebec relied on 100 year old animal cruelty laws to protect animals in puppy mills.

In addition to the limited funding and staff for Anima Québec, there are breeder and pet store industry leaders on its Board.

Like APHIS in the U.S., and as Nicole found in investigating L&P, Anima Québec's focus is on information and education rather than punitive measures.

The SPCA in Montreal, Quebec has also been heavily criticized for not doing more to protect animals in mills. The SPCA employs 3 investigators. (The Province of Quebec has only 8 investigators, compared with Ontario which has 347 investigators.) The Montreal SPCA receives an average 30 to 40 calls daily and approximately 300 calls each year concerning abusive treatment by dog or cat breeders.

There are believed to be more than 400 mills in Ontario. The Ontario SPCA has been one of the most proactive on the puppy mill issue. They received funding from the provincial government a few years ago to establish a Special Investigations Unit to work on commercial uses of animals, including puppy mills, pet stores, etc. By increasing their activities, they were able to carry out quite a number of raids that resulted in charges. Also, two years ago the Ontario government introduced legislation to specifically address puppy mills with maximum fines of up to $50,000.

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Nicole Joncas protest rally http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyS0V-_7VZ0

What You Can Do

Nicole's legal bills so are total about $50,000 even though her team of attorneys, Kurt Johnson, Mat Bouchard, Wendy Adams, and Alanna Devine, have worked pro bono on the case. So far, only $15,000 has been raised.

Please help if you can. For the dogs trapped in a living nightmare. Nicole has spent her life rescuing animals in need. She has stepped up for the dogs. She now needs our help. A receipt for charitable donation will be issued for donations of $25 and up. Please make your cheque payable to Teja's Animal Refuge, and on the memo line write "Lawsuit". Send your contribution to:

Tejas Animal Refuge, http://www.tejasanimalrefuge.ca/, 21511 McCormick Rd., Glen Robertson, Ontario, Canada KOB 1HO

Tejas Animal Refuge is a registered charity #85496 4202 RC0001

Stay tuned to Animal Law Coalition for case updates and more on the evidence uncovered by Nicole about the horrific conditions at Lamarche & Pinard's puppy mills.