For years, the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies has been campaigning to convince MPs it is time to update cruelty-to-animal rules that were created in 1892 and have not been substantially revised since.
But as a private member’s bill doing just that moved closer to winning House of Commons approval last week, the federation is campaigning to kill it.
“This is a bad bill and should be killed,” CFHS program director Shelagh MacDonald said last week.
“It is a weak bill, continues to treat animals as property, increases the penalties but does not expand the scope of offences to reflect modern values.”
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At issue is Bill S-203, already approved by the Senate where it was sponsored by Liberal senator John Bryden and now in the Commons sponsored by rural Liberal Charles Hubbard.
Last week, the bill received an hour’s debate in the Commons and one more hour will see it voted on and likely approved.
However, after last week’s debate it dropped to the bottom of the private member’s bill list and likely will not be up for debate again for several months.
Hubbard said last week he hopes to strike a deal to have the bill moved ahead on the list.
“I think I can get it moved up so unless there is an early election, I believe it will be approved,” he said. “I recognize it is not as strong a bill as some want but it does increase penalties and I think will send a message to animal abusers. And this can be improved upon in a later bill.”
The Conservatives and Bloc Québécois have indicated they support it, the New Democrats are opposed and the Liberals are divided.
Toronto area Liberal MP Mark Holland has a competing tougher bill that reflects legislation proposed in previous Parliaments, amended to meet the objections of most agricultural, hunting and research groups. In every previous case, the bill died when an election was called before it was approved.
He is trying to kill Hubbard’s bill and last week said in the Commons that Hubbard’s bill does not adequately deal with gruesome animal abuse cases like a Didsbury, Alta., dog that was dragged behind a car and a cat that was microwaved to death in Alberta.
Holland noted that every animal welfare group in the country opposes Hubbard’s bill and supports his bill, C-373.
“There is a chance that the bill (Hubbard’s) will come back and I don’t think Canadians support that bill. Absolutely we would be better off without S-203 because it would put us behind countries like the Philippines. We would be a third world nation as far as our animal cruelty laws go.”
