A Very Promising Initiative for the animals

from today's Telegraph Journal
Rules take aim at puppy mills
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/ Benjamin Shingler
The New Brunswick government is planning to introduce a set of stricter rules designed to protect the province's pets.
The government announced Saturday it plans to adopt a new regulation under the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act that will set standards for pet establishments, such as pet stores, animal shelters and kennels, and enable their licensing and inspection.
"We're going to be asking them to have a licence and regular inspection to be done by the SPCA, to ensure that they have proper shelter, food and enough water," Minister of Local Governance Chris Collins said in an interview Saturday.
Under the new rules, owners of more than five dogs that are over six months of age will be required to adhere to nationally established standards of care.
"It's obviously aimed at eliminating puppy mills, which are a problem throughout Canada and we're taking a pro-active move on," said Collins, the Liberal MLA for Moncton East.
"It's terrific news. My dog is smiling up at me today."
The changes will apply to both commercial and non-commercial establishments in municipalities and rural areas.
The New Brunswick SPCA and animal-rights advocates have long been pushing for the province to introduce stricter regulations to help protect animals and monitor puppy mills.
"We welcome this new regulation that the Government of New Brunswick is putting in place," Joy Bacon, president of the New Brunswick SPCA, said in a statement. "It will give the society a broader mandate, permit us to have better oversight of pet stores and kennels, and enable us to prosecute those who willfully neglect their animals."
Jody Carr, an advocate for stricter animal protection laws, said the new regulation is a very positive step. "It is welcome news and we need it," Carr, the Progressive Conservative MLA for Oromocto, said in an interview.
"Hopefully, it will protect animals from some of the abuses we've seen in the past."
The need for change came to the forefront last year after a Minto man was found not guilty under the Criminal Code of killing five small dogs with a hammer.
The U.S.-based Animal Legal Defense Fund rated New Brunswick in May 2009 as one of the worst jurisdictions for animal protection laws.
Along with New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Quebec round out the organization's list of the "best places to be an animal abuser."
Since then, the province has introduced new measures to protect pets.
In June, Carr was behind an Opposition motion supported by government last year that dramatically increased fines for animal abusers.
The maximum provincial fine was increased to $100,000 and/or 18 months in prison, up from the previous maximum of $575.
According to Collins, the new regulations announced Saturday will rank among the strongest in Canada.
The regulations include a series of exemptions. Establishments selling animals that are considered livestock will be exempt from pet licensing requirements, as will grooming facilities, training operations, research and educational facilities, veterinary clinics and boarding and riding stables for horses.
In addition, licences will not be required for circuses and zoos.
What a promising initiative for the animals ... especially if it survives the lobbying process fairly intact.
Wouldn't taking a similar step be a wonderful way for our Nova Scotia MLA's to provide some badly needed polish to their own reputations? Rather than continually post the contact information for our MLA's, I've finally smartened up and added it to the sidebar. ( The federal MP contact information has been at the bottom of the blog page for quite some time : ))))
The trick of course will be to keep the exemptions from cutting any regulations off at the knees. Coming out of the gate, its already exempting grooming facilities, training operations and vet clinics ( its hard to tell from the wording if it is just exempting boarding facilities for horses or for all animals)
What's missing? Mandatory breeder registration that includes mandatory records for the sources for all animals sold in pet stores. ( until that wonderful day when pet stores aren't allowed to sell them at all, but are only allowed to have satellite pet adoption centers )
The current proposal affects the owners of "more than five dogs that are over six months of age" In other words ... anyone can still continually breed five bitches if they can peddle all the puppies before they are six months of age.
Even so, it is a promising start and well worth getting excited over. Always remember that if you are contacting your own MLA that it is usually more effective to use the contact for their home constituency as their assistants are usually keeping a better finger on the pulse of voter feedback for them there.
What time is it? Its always time to remember that the way ahead for the animals will only be paved by strong voter feedback.