The Montreal Gazette

Cheryl Cornacchia

Building a more Humane Society

Anima Quebec, a nonprofit group in Quebec City, has been given the mandate to enforce the province's new animal welfare laws and standards, known as P-42. But the Montreal SPCA says it should have the job.

Monday, April 11, 2005

Lachine dog owner Carol Majeur suspected something was wrong when she bought two German shepherds from a La Plaine couple last summer.

The puppies, which cost her $150 each, were gentle but smelled of excrement and seemed afraid of people and of putting their paws on the lawn.

Majeur was stumped at the time but now may get some answers about her dogs' behaviour, their breeding and early veterinary care.

A March 31 SPCA raid and seizure of 23 adults dogs - mostly German shepherds - has put the illegal home-breeding operation in La Plaine in the spotlight and highlighted the continued inadequacy of animal welfare laws in Quebec.

For years, Quebec has been seen as one of the worst places in North America for animal welfare and, sadly, the reputation has been one that is more than warranted.

Ontario, British Columbia, New Brunswick and Alberta have all passed tougher animal welfare laws and put up substantial amounts of provincial money to bust puppy mills and illegal home breeders.

Quebec, however, has done little but sit on the fence - and on a package of tough animal welfare laws that were first introduced in the National Assembly in 1993.

In January, those animal welfare laws and standards, known as P-42, were finally adopted and Anima Quebec, a nonprofit animal welfare group in Quebec City, was given the mandate to enforce them. What will happen next is hard to say. Following the raid in La Plaine, the Montreal SPCA said it, not Anima Quebec, should have the mandate to enforce P-42. Among their complaints: The group has only two inspectors, and with only $150,000 of government funding, what can it realistically do?

Last week, Huguette Lepine, director of Anima Quebec, responded. In an interview Friday, she said Anima Quebec is now putting in place the structures that will improve animal welfare in Quebec for years to come. Lepine said Anima Quebec is working closely with the two professional orders representing Quebec veterinarians - a first. And the plan is to enlist and train Quebec veterinarians and animal technicians to perform inspections and lay charges under P-42.

The group has just completed a manual to help inspectors assess animal conditions when they visit kennels, shelters, pet stores and breeders, Lepine said. By contracting out work to animal professionals - including the SPCA - Lepine said, the province could be policed by a substantial force of inspectors and bring Quebec up to acceptable standards. She said Anima Quebec is aware there are installations where hundreds of animals are being exploited in dirty, cruel, substandard conditions and without veterinary care. But she said it would be foolhardy to focus efforts on shutting down individual puppy mills while the network that nurtures the industry - from breeders to pet stores - is left intact.

"The main target of Anima Quebec is safety and welfare of animals - not just to find guilty people. We are in a hurry but going slowly," she said. That makes sense, said Michael O'Sullivan, executive director of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies. P-42 could make Quebec one of the toughest places in the country to abuse animals, he said. Quebec's new law "is really quite a tool," said Michael Draper, the chief inspector of the Ontario SPCA.

Quebec law grants the right of inspection - the ability to investigate a breeding operation without a warrant, Draper said. Ontario SPCA inspectors don't have that power, he said, adding Quebec will be able to do good things with it.

The number of charges laid in Ontario increased 175 per cent in the first year after the introduction of Bill 129, that province's animal welfare act. Last year alone, 607 charges of cruelty toward animals were laid in Ontario under Canada's criminal code provisions - which provide for a maximum fine of $2,000 - and another 65 of animal neglect were laid under Bill 129. But "it's a struggle," said Draper - even with an annual budget of $40 million and a team of 205 inspectors.

Perennially tight resources for animal welfare is why Pierre Barnoti questions how Anima Quebec alone can enforce Quebec's new legislation, which provides for fines of up to $15,000 and allows courts to bar the guilty from owning pets for up to two years.

The Montreal SPCA director said his organization has a long history and public trust that make it a good choice to raise funds and enforce P-42. With seven inspectors and an annual budget of $9 million, Barnoti said, it is way ahead of Anima Quebec.

Lepine, however, argues Quebec's animal welfare problem is so widespread that a separate agency whose sole mandate is enforcement of P-42 is required. She noted the organization has received more than 100 resumes from Montreal-area veterinarians and animal technicians wanting to do work for the agency.

Four new inspectors will come on duty before the end of this month, she said, and more are being trained. The group has also raised substantial corporate funding.

In the meantime, Majeur, the Lachine dog owner, is anxious for answers about what happened to her dogs before she got them. The first one ran away within days - "I called him Bullet" - and never came back. And Zeus, the second puppy who was almost as uncomfortable around people as the first, was losing his vision and had to go to another home.

"It was so bloody sad," she said.