Our federal animal cruelty laws have not been meaningfully updated for 125 years.
MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith of Toronto's Beaches-East York riding has tabled Bill C-246 The Modernizing Animal Protections Act, a non-partisan private member's bill that would ban the sale of cat and dog fur and the import of shark fins. It would also close loopholes in the current archaic legislation, finally enabling prosecutors and courts to deal successfully with horrific cruelty such as that found in dog fighting rings and puppy mills. This bill targets animal abuse, not animal use, so acceptable animal use practices are not touched.
Bill C-246's second reading and vote are on Sept. 28 in Parliament.
Please contact your MP now to ask that they support it. Mainstream Canadians are in favour of Bill C-246, but we'd also like to see our government behind it. Why? Because it's 2016.
Dr. Jane Young
Prince George
