After a Yukon man was told that 15 of his neglected dogs would be confiscated, he shot all 56 of his dogs, threw them into a pile on his front lawn, and sat on top of the dead animals waiting for the police to return.

And there was nothing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) could do about it.

That’s because Canada’s national animal cruelty legislation hasn’t been significantly updated since 1892 and is extremely difficult to enforce. Currently, less than ¼ of 1% of animal abuse complaints lead to successful convictions.

Help pass stronger anti-cruelty laws in Canada!

IFAW has been working for seven years to pass modern legislation in Canada that will protect animals from horrific acts of cruelty, including amendments that:

Update the language so that it is easier to prosecute individuals who neglect their animals.
Remove animals from the property section of the Criminal Code of Canada. Currently wild and stray animals are virtually unprotected from shocking acts of cruelty because they are not considered property.
Make it illegal to breed animals for fighting.
But now all of this work is being threatened. Senate Bill S-213 is making its way through Parliament and may derail all of our efforts to protect animals from cruelty.

New Senate bill leaves animals vulnerable to cruelty and neglect

Bill S-213 is an ineffective bill that does not contain any of the amendments that IFAW has been fighting for. The bill contains the same loopholes and outdated language of the Criminal Code and only provides a few increased penalties which will remain nearly impossible to enforce.

Animal abusers who slip through the cracks unpunished today will continue to do so under S-213. Law enforcement officers would still be helpless to protect the 56 dogs that were neglected and systematically shot by the man they were dependent on for care.

S-213 ignores the core issues that need to be addressed to effectively protect animals from cruelty and prosecute offenders. Please write to your MP today and ask them to oppose Bill S-213.

For the animals,

Olivier Bonnet
Director IFAW Canada

P.S. Under this ineffective legislation, abusers of animals such as “Buddy Bear”, the young bear cub stolen from his mother and beaten repeatedly by a Wakefield, QC area man, would still be charged with nothing more than owning an animal without a license. Please say no to Bill S-213 now!