A couple of days ago, this anonymous comment was left ( happily on this blog and not on the Pet blog.... thank you for recognizing that isn't the place to discuss these issues)
That dog Julie has a bio that states she was almost euthanized because her owner was done with her, she was too old now and had too many liters. So, the vet saw what a great companion dog she could be and saved it. So what about all the other dogs that this guy breeds and all the abuse the animals recieve under his care. Is the vet not responsible beyond this case? Is anyone responsible to ensure this man stops breeding and selling hound dogs?
As I understand it, Bill 186 actually does obligate vets to report abuse. In light of that, it would seem pretty simple, huh?
Actually its a double edged sword for a clear cut situation, let alone a sticky spot like this. At this point in time, its not illegal to relegate a good dog to being housed in a garage or worse, in an outdoor kennel or shelter. As long as they have adequate protection from the elements, the law doesn't get into the nitty gritty about how pets are living breathing sentient beings who need the company of their family/aka their pack to be complete and happy and whole. Which of course is why we refer to them as companion animals.
Nor does the law limit the number of litters that any individual dog should have. Under existing law, pets are considered to be property without the special protections that they really should have. I know I sound like a stuck record about this, but this is exactly why we need federal animal cruelty legislation to amend our Criminal Code and create a new category for animals.
Will that be enough to do the trick? Of course not. Until it is socially unacceptable to treat an animal badly, people with no moral underpinning to their characters will continue to overbreed, abandon and deny basic needs and care to the animals.
I can hear the heavy sighs, and before the keyboards catch on fire I would like to tell you a little true story. Forty years ago, one of my nearest and dearest friends had an unimaginable childhood. The children would have to creep out over the porch and hide in the barn when their father came home in drunken violent rages. This wasn't a secret, because in the bitterest winter weather, the children would have to take refuge with the neighbours.
The police knew this man drank ( and drove .... but that's another rant) but would not come to the house without three of their mates. The mother knew that if she called the police it would only be worse next time. In a small community like this, everyone knew. Their teachers knew. Their neighbours knew. Their pastor knew.
Everybody knew and everybody did nothing. Why? They felt it wasn't their place and knew there weren't enough laws with teeth to do anything about the situation.
Can you imagine that type of thing being so widely known and still happening today? Of course not. Why? Because it is socially unacceptable.
I'm fifty four years old, and so I am old enough to remember women being counselled against pressing abuse and harassment charges because it would be "bad for the man's career" No I'm not kidding. Back then priests were quite capable of suggesting that if women would be better wives there would be less "difficulties".
Can you imagine that type of thing now? Of course not. Why? Because the laws have been tightened up so that fewer things slip through the cracks. It didn't change overnight but it did change.
My daughter is only 31 and there have been tremendous changes in her lifetime. The ink was barely dry when she was born on the human rights legislation that guaranteed jobs would be protected while women were on maternity leave. When she was nine, the Employment Equity Act was passed. She was legally an adult before common law partner rights were recognized, safe houses became safer and women were no longer required to press charges against abusive partners.
That is why I know that we can change things for the animals. It is possible to create a climate where the majority of people will not tolerate the ill treatment of animals. If the European Union can do it for the seals, we can certainly do it for the companion animals here in our own country.
So where do we start? What do we do? Happily we're not starting from scratch. If the existing legislation is still inadequate, it is at least a beginning that can be built on. How can we do that?
Politicians always look at numbers. Last summer we saw first hand how quickly all politicians became 'tuned in' to animal welfare issues in response to the strong voter feedback about Bill 138. So how do we play the 'numbers game'?
One doesn't have to be an animal activist to speak up. I'm just a middle aged grandmother and I can guarantee you that people have become accustomed to listening to me. Why? Because I speak up. I email the appropriate politicians on every issue that concerns me. I don't wait for someone else to do it.
Expecting someone else to solve all the problems creates the type of climate where my friend and his brothers and sisters wound up in such an untenable situation.
Each and every one of you can be an 'army of one' for the animals. Every email that each of you send to politicians on every level makes a difference. Every phone call that you makes carries clout. Governments on all levels never have time to address everything. In this day of policies that shift with opinion polls, voter feedback is the most effective tool you have in your arsenal.
You can also lend the weight of your voice to the official 'voice for the animals' and get a society membership. When it comes to political clout, size really does matter. It is a fact of life that politicians just pay more attention to the groups with the (ahem ) biggest membership base.
In this house, silence may be golden when Ruby is trying to let me know that those darned squirrels are at the bird feeder when I'm trying to talk on the phone. But for everything else, silence isn't golden ... its a rusty and decrepit heap that should be sent to the scrapyard.
One of the prevailing sources of misery and crime is in the generally accepted assumption, that because things have been wrong a long time, it is impossible they will ever be right. John Ruskin
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