STOUFFVILLE, Ontario, May 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As zoo animals make news headlines across Canada this week, the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society points to the need to overhaul provincial animal welfare legislation that is failing animals who are kept in captivity for commercial gain.
The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society has formed a task force dedicated to developing new provincial animal welfare legislation that reflects the need for both greater protection and social justice for animals. This work will set the stage for new legislation, including stronger regulations prohibiting the use of animals in entertainment, providing for the protection of pets and farm animals and establishing their status as sentient beings under the law.
The task force is reviewing the need for animals to be recognized under law as sentient beings to acknowledge their ability to feel, to have subjective experiences and to be treated accordingly, rather than as property.
To get the public’s input on animal welfare, the Ontario SPCA has launched Change for Animals. The advocacy campaign invites members of the public to be a voice for animals by completing a short survey to help shape animal welfare laws in Ontario.
“It is our ethical responsibility to ensure animals are treated with respect, as living beings, and afforded care and protection under law,” says Jennifer Bluhm, Deputy Chief, Ontario SPCA and Humane Society. “The time for change is upon us and we’re encouraging animal advocates to ensure that their voices are heard.”
For more information, visit changeforanimals.ca
**Note to editors: Brian Shiller, general counsel to the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society, will be available for interviews.
MEDIA CONTACT
Media Relations
Ontario SPCA and Humane Society
905-898-7122 x 375
media@ospca.on.ca
The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society
The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society is a registered charity, established in 1873. The Society and its network of animal welfare communities facilitate and provide for province-wide leadership on matters relating to the prevention of cruelty to animals and the promotion of animal well-being. Offering a variety of mission-based programs, including community-based sheltering, animal wellness services, provincial animal transfers, shelter health & wellness, high-volume spay/neuter services, animal rescue, animal advocacy, Indigenous partnership programs and humane education, the Ontario SPCA is Ontario’s animal welfare charity.