OTTAWA, March 8, 2004 - Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Irwin Cotler, today announced the reinstatement in the House of Commons of proposals to strengthen legislation to prevent cruelty to animals.

"Canadians want our laws to protect animals against actions which show disregard or contempt for their well-being," said Minister Cotler. "This legislation will respond to these concerns and will modernize our legal protection against criminal negligence and intentional cruelty to animals."

The proposed amendments will:

• consolidate existing offences related to cruelty to animals and no longer treat these offences as property crimes;
• make it illegal to brutally or viciously kill animals;
• raise the penalty for intentional cruelty to a maximum of five years' imprisonment,
  up from the current six-month penalty, and increase possible fines up from the current maximum of $2,000 to a maximum of $10,000 depending on the severity of the offence;
• provide that anyone convicted of animal cruelty can be prohibited from owning an animal for any period of time a judge considers appropriate; and
• give judges the authority to order anyone found guilty of animal cruelty to pay restitution to the animal welfare organization that cared for the animal.

In response to concerns from farmers, trappers, researchers and others who earn a living from the animal industry, amendments were incorporated to clarify that all available defences to animal cruelty remain. Industry-related activities that are currently lawful will remain so under the Criminal Code. The legislation, like other legislation, is also subject to constitutionally protected Aboriginal hunting and fishing rights.

An online version of the proposed legislation is available at www.parl.gc.ca.

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Ref.:

Denise Rudnicki
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Justice
(613) 992-4621

Media Relations
Department of Justice Canada
(613) 957-4207