Bestiality bill doesn’t go far enough, critics say

Look to close loophole after top court appeal

• The Liberal government wants to strengthen laws against bestiality and animal fighting, but advocates against animal cruelty, including a Liberal MP, say the measures are the bare minimum of what’s needed.

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould introduced legislation Thursday that would expand the definition of bestiality to make it clear the offence prohibits any contact for a sexual purpose between a person and animal.

Current bestiality laws are too narrowly defined and must be broadened to ensure both animals and the general public are better protected, Wilson-Raybould said.

“Our laws need to reflect (Canadians’) values and protect animals and provide protection to them that they require from such senseless acts of violence,” she said.

The changes stem from a court ruling two years ago that saw a B.C. man — who was found guilty of sexually molesting two step-daughters and one count of bestiality — successfully challenge the bestiality conviction in the B.C. Court of Appeal based on the fact the activity did not involve penetration.

The Supreme Court of Canada affirmed that ruling.

Wilson-Raybould says the new legislation would address the loophole, acknowledging that had these measures been in place already, the B.C. case might have turned out differently.

Another change in the law will also ban a broad range of activities involving animal fighting, including promoting, arranging and profiting from animal fights as well as breeding, training and transporting animals to a fight — activities that have been linked to organized crime.

Two years ago, Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith put forward a private member’s bill to address the bestiality loophole and animal fighting, but his bill also included a ban on importing shark fins and cat and dog fur. It also would have made the “brutal and vicious” killing of an animal a new offence and would have changed the standard for animal cruelty from wilful neglect to “gross negligence.”

His bill was defeated after members of his own Liberal caucus voted against it.

Erskine-Smith characterized the changes in his justice minister’s bill as “modest,” and hopes they will mark the first steps in a larger conversation about addressing animal cruelty in Canada. He was also critical of the “meat and hunting” lobby, which he contends influenced the defeat of his bill by spreading misinformation about the impact on their industries.

He pointed to a letter published in December 2017 signed by a number of animal welfare, veterinary and meat production advocacy groups, saying they had reached consensus to support the two changes now included in Wilson-Raybould’s bill.

OUR LAWS NEED TO REFLECT (CANADIANS’) VALUES AND PROTECT ANIMALS AND PROVIDE PROTECTION TO THEM THAT THEY REQUIRE FROM SUCH SENSELESS ACTS OF VIOLENCE. — JUSTICE MINISTER JODY WILSON-RAYBOULD