A small group of animal rights advocates held a rally Saturday outside Bosley's Pet Food Plus on Ferry Avenue to mark the end of National Animal Abuse Prevention Week.
April 23 is officially Animal Abuse Prevention Day in B.C. -an event created in 2011 to mark the one-year anniversary of 56 sled dogs being killed in Whistler.
Rally organizer Charlene Myers said she hopes to raise public awareness about animal abuse, and seek signatures for a petition to the House of Commons calling for stronger penalties for animal abusers.
"We just think it's important to educate people about animal abuse," Myers said. "Think globally, but act locally. If we focus on our own community... hopefully that would lead to lasting change."
Myers said reporting animal abuse is not just about protecting animals, but also about protecting people.
"We want to focus on the link between animal abuse and violence towards humans. Animal abusers are also likely to be involved in violence and other criminality," she said.
A 1983 study of 53 families which met the legal criteria for child abuse and neglect showed that 60 per cent of those families also abused or neglected their pets. In 88 per cent of the families were children were physically abused, animal abuse was also present.
A 2004 Canadian study showed that 56 per cent of pet-owning women seeking refuge in women's shelters said their abuser had also threatened or harmed their pet.
"If animals are being abused, people are at risk and vice versa," Myers said.
B.C. SPCA CEO Craig Daniell said B.C. has made recent improvements both in public awareness and legislation dealing with animal abuse.
"In the last five years we've had two significant amendments to the [Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] Act," Daniell said. "People focus a lot on penalties, but penalties are only one part of the picture. It's actually given our constables some additional tools in their toolbox [to investigate animal abuse cases.]"
One of those tools means SPCA constables are able to get a search warrant over the phone, which is especially important in emergency situation and rural investigations, he said.
In March of 2013 the B.C. SPCA launched a toll-free provincial hotline (1-855-622-7722) for reporting animal abuse. Since the introduction, the number of animal abuse cases reported in the province has gone up from 7,000 complaints to 7,900 per year.
"That is definitely part of the increased public vigilance," he said. "The public is more willing to report these things..."
Seventy per cent of cases reported involve cats and dogs, 20 per farm animals and 10 per cent involved wildlife, Daniell said.
"The overwhelming majority of our complaints are resolved through education," he said.
Often in neglect cases it is simply a matter of educating the animal owner about the proper care of their animals, he said, while in other cases the owner will willingly agree to surrender the animal.
"We get a couple thousand animals surrendered to us through investigations per year," he said.
Only about 150 cases per year involve obtaining search warrants in order to press criminal charges, Daniell added.
"Animal abuse doesn't occur in a vacuum. There is a very strong link between animal abuse and other abuse," he said. "Often animal abuse is just a precursor to other violence."
Studies have shown more than 50 per cent of women fleeing domestic violence delayed leaving because they were concerned about what their abuser would do to their pet, he said.
"We know that human-animal bond is so strong. All our shelters will do compassionate boarding," Daniell said. "That allows a woman to leave, knowing her pet will be taken care of until she can take it back."
SPCA constables are also trained to be alert to signs of domestic and other violence when investigating animal abuse cases, he said.
The B.C. SPCA has also signed memorandums of understanding with the B.C. Cattlemen's Association and other farm organizations to cooperate on farm animal investigations, Daniell said.
"When we're dealing with a hundred head of beef cattle... the last thing we want to do is seize those animals," he said. "A Cattlemen's Association representative will go out with our constables. Usually that breaks down barriers. The Cattlemen's Association representative can play good cop and our constable, if necessary, the bad cop."
Overall, "all that means we've actually made a lot of progress in the last five years on animal abuse," Daniell said.
For more information go online to www.spca.bc.ca. To report an animal in distress, call the B.C. SPCA hotline at 1-855-622-7772.
