Guest Blog: Support Bill C-246

The following blog is written by Debbie Wall. Wall is from Winnipeg and supports Bill C-246, a Private Member’s Bill currently in the House of Commons, which aims to modernize animal protection laws in Canada.

It makes my blood boil when I hear of stories like Asha’s, the poor northern Manitoba pup whose abuser posted a video of his cruelty towards her online.  But I don’t hold my breath thinking that he or other perpetrators will receive any type of meaningful punishment.  Canada has the shameful distinction of having some of the weakest animal protection laws in the world. The animal cruelty sections of the Criminal Code, first enacted in 1892 to address the protection of livestock, fall under offenses against property. They have not been meaningfully updated since 1954, thus falling behind in the dust of our society’s evolving attitudes towards animals.  They are riddled with loopholes, making it impossible for prosecutors to make successful convictions, even in extreme cases of animal cruelty.

Private Member’s Bill C-246, the Modernizing Animal Protections Act, was introduced into Parliament this spring by Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith with the intent of bringing our laws into the 21^st Century.  It will move animal cruelty crimes to a new section of the Criminal Code called “Offenses against Animals.”  While they would still be considered property, it would recognize that animals deserve more protection than, say, a chair.

The bill would make it easier to convict in cases of extreme neglect, make it illegal to profit from animal fighting and close loopholes, including those related to bestiality and the killing of stray animals.  It would also strengthen sentences for repeat abusers with a mandatory lifetime ban on animal ownership for any person convicted of animal cruelty for a second time.  Also included are the banning of shark finning and the import of dog and cat fur into Canada as well as requiring that all fur products be labelled with the species of origin.  What it will NOT do, as has been falsely claimed by fear mongers, is affect animal agriculture, animal research, hunting, fishing or existing aboriginal and treaty rights

In a June 2015 survey conducted by Environics Research Group, 92% of Canadians agreed that the Criminal Code should be updated to make it easier to convict people who commit acts of cruelty to animals.  It is now time for those Canadians to make their voices heard, loud and clear, when it matters the most.  The fate of Bill C-246 is to decided  the third week of September.  Please contact your MP and tell them that you want them to support the Modernizing Animal Protections Act.  Asha, and others like her, have waited long enough for justice.

For more information on Bill C-246, click here.

Print and sign this letter in support of Bill C-246 and send it to Prime Minster Justin Trudeau.

-Debbie Wall