ANIMAL WELFARE
Humane society transition
A decision by Ontario’s animal welfare agency to end its role in animal cruelty investigations will mean changes to all provincial control units including the Windsor-Essex County Humane Society.
The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals sent notice Monday to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services that it will not sign a new contract with the province. The current agreement expires at the end of March but the OSPCA has agreed to a three-month transition phase to June 28. “This will affect us and all other humane societies in Ontario who do cruelty investigation work,” said Melanie Coulter, the WECHS executive director, in an email. Coulter said the local society has two full-time officers and one part-timer who have OSPCA Act authority to enforce cruelty laws. She said those officers will focus on other duties such as animal control and welfare bylaw enforcement. “We wouldn’t anticipate any staffing changes,” Coulter said. Coulter said the WECHS conducts between 800 to 1,000 investigations each year on any welfare concern, such as neglect. “Animal welfare will always be of utmost importance to our government and we are committed to ensuring no animals fall through the cracks as a result of (Monday’s) announcement,” said Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Sylvia Jones in a statement. “We are actively reviewing the implications of this change to find a solution that works for everyone.” The OSPCA’s CEO Kate MacDonald told The Canadian Press her organization would like to see services delivered similar to New York City where the NYPD has an animal cruelty squad that works in conjunction with American animal protection services.
The OSPCA Act gave the organization police powers to enforce both provincial and Criminal Code animal cruelty laws. That enforcement role came into question earlier this year when an Ontario court found those powers to be unconstitutional. The judge ruled the province was wrong to give police powers to a private agency without imposing accountability and transparency standards. “Unlike virtually every other law enforcement agency, the Ontario SPCA is not subject to freedom of information or police accountability legislation,” said members of a national animal law organization. Animal Justice issued a media release Tuesday supporting OSPCA’s decision. “Animal Justice supports this courageous move by the Ontario SPCA as a first step toward modernizing animal law enforcement,” said Camille Labchuk, Animal Justice executive director. “Animal protection is the only area of the law where the government relies on private charities to enforce public laws, and forces them to raise their own funds to support this essential work. Law enforcement by private charities is no longer appropriate in 2019.”
The release stated that Ontario spends an estimated $4.4 billion on policing with less than $6 million going to the OSPCA. “Vulnerable animals in Ontario deserve a robust, well-resourced public system,” Labchuk said. Animal Justice stated police have the authority to enforce federal and provincial animal cruelty laws. Coulter said the humane society is “still assessing the impacts and waiting for the government’s direction on next steps. The WECHS will do whatever we can to support and help the transition to whatever new law enforcement agency is in place.”
Come July, it’s not yet known who people should call about cruelty concerns. Coulter said the public is still welcome to contact the humane society, which will direct the calls appropriately.