Canadians must speak out to stop the passage of ineffective, outdated animal cruelty legislation from being passed in our House of Commons.
PETITIONS
You can participate in our petition drive by signing the online petition or printing the paper version of the petition and circulating it in your area.
PLEASE NOTE! Paper and ink petitions are way more effective and carry much more weight in the House of Commons! Canadian residents, please be sure to print, sign and send in paper petition as well if at all possible!
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BILL S-203
Bill S-203 is a private member's bill in the Senate. It has passed the Senate, passed Second Reading in the House and is awaiting debate by the Justice and Human Rights Committee, likely this fall.
Bill S-203 makes NO changes to today's archaic and wholly inadequate offences; it will only increase the penalties. Increased penalties are important, but ultimately meaningless when the offences are so problematic that many cases can't even be prosecuted.
Bill S-203:
- makes it difficult to prosecute cases of neglect, even when dozens of animals have been starved to death
- allows the training of animals for dog fights, cockfights or other types of animal fighting
- permits killing stray or wild animals for no particular reason
- provides extra protection for cattle and other animals and less protection for stray or wild animals
- doesn't make it a crime to kill animals brutally or viciously
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- considers animal cruelty a property offence
- doesn't offer specific protection for law enforcement animals
BILL C-229
(formerly titled C-373)
Bill C-229 (formerly known as Bill C-373), a private member's bill in the House, would fix all of the above problems, as well as increase the penalties. This bill is virtually identical to one that came excruciatingly close to being passed in 2003 when it was supported unanimously in the House of Commons.
That bill was also supported by a huge number of animal use industries representing farmers, trappers and scientific researchers, as well as veterinarians, police associations and animal protection groups.
Unfortunately, the Senate stood in the way of that bill and then it died when Parliament dissolved.
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As a foundation, we are fighting to have the government put in Bill C-229 (formerly titled Bill C-373) instead of Bill S-203 since the outdated laws have not been changed since the 1800s. Bill S-203 is just an updated version of the same bill. It does not change the effects on inhumane suffering over a hundred years later.