Cat Animal Cruelty Laws Canada- This applies as at Oct 2008. Laws change. This page might not get updated at all or quickly. Although I am very careful be aware and check, please.
Contents
Federal Laws
Provincial Laws
more to come…
The federal law is the basis for the laws of the provinces and territories. Some sections are omitted as irrelevant to cat cruelty. Federal law — Section 445.1 creates the offense of cruelty to animals (see detail below). This includes the domestic cat. If a person is charged and convicted of “willfully” (with intent I presume) causing unnecessary pain/injury to a cat the punishment is dependent on whether the offense is indictable or an offense punishable on summary conviction. Punishment can extend to confiscation and an order for costs in respect of caring for the animals. An offense is indictable when the circumstances are deemed serious enough for the matter to be tried in a higher court with greater powers of punishment. An indictable offense is the equivalent of a felony in the United States.
Federal laws
Cruelty to Animals
(d) and (e) not reproduced.
Alberta — Cat Animal Cruelty Laws Canada The relevant piece of legislation is the Animal Protection Act (date?). The following text a verbatim recital of part of the statute. These are extracts only. I have not recited the enforcement sections etc. Three forms of animal cruelty are covered by the Act, distress, care and abandonment.
Definition of distress – section 1(2): For the purposes of this Act, an animal is in distress if it is (a) deprived of adequate shelter, ventilation, space, food, water or veterinary care or reasonable protection from injurious heat or cold, (b) injured, sick, in pain or suffering, or (c) abused or subjected to undue hardship, privation or neglect.
Distress – The offense – section 2: No person shall cause or permit an animal of which the person is the owner or the person in charge to be or to continue to be in distress. No person shall cause an animal to be in distress. This section does not apply if the distress results from an activity carried on in accordance with the regulations or in accordance with reasonable and generally accepted practices of animal care, management, husbandry, hunting, fishing, trapping, pest control or slaughter.
Animal care – section 2.1: A person who owns or is in charge of an animal (a) must ensure that the animal has adequate food and water, (b) must provide the animal with adequate care when the animal is wounded or ill, (c) must provide the animal with reasonable protection from injurious heat or cold, and (d) must provide the animal with adequate shelter, ventilation and space.
Abandonment – section 4.1(1): In this section, “abandoned animal” includes an animal that (a) is left for more than 24 hours without adequate food or water or shelter, (b) is left for 5 days or more after the expected retrieval time from a registered veterinarian or from a person who for money consideration or its equivalent stables, boards or cares for the animal, or (c) is found on premises with respect to which the tenancy agreement has been terminated. (2) A peace officer may take an abandoned animal into custody whether or not it is in distress. (3) A peace officer who takes an animal into custody pursuant to subsection (2) shall deliver the animal to a humane society or caretaker.
Punishment section 12: A person who is charged and convicted with an offense under the above is liable to a maximum fine of $20,000.
Ontario — Cat Animal Cruelty Laws Canada The relevant law is Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. This Act deals with breeders of cats and dogs. It is not therefore reproduced here as this page concerns general laws pertaining to cat cruelty by the public. Ontario would fall back on the federal laws of Canada it would seem.
Yukon — Cat Animal Cruelty Laws Canada Under the ANIMAL PROTECTION ACT this province has adopted the same legislation as Alberta in respect of causing distress to an animal referred to above.
Punishment: Section 12(1) Any person who contravenes this Act or the regulations thereunder is guilty of an offense and liable on summary conviction, to a fine of not more than $500 and in default of payment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both fine and imprisonment. 12(2) A judge of the Territorial Court or a justice may, when sentencing a person convicted of an offense contrary to section 3, order that the person be prohibited from owning an animal or from having charge of an animal for any time the judge or justice considers advisable.
— See full terms of the Animal Protection Act. (takes you away from this site and opens in a new window) — See a discussion on the need to tighten up the Yukon laws: Yukon cat and animal laws.
Cat Animal Cruelty Laws Canada – More to come……………….. From cat animal cruelty laws Canada to Cats and the Law
Photo: published under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs creative commons License. The cat is I believe a rescue cat. He is very affectionate and popular with Flickr viewers.
I would like to know when it was that the animal cruelty law was changed to protect domestic or feral cats which are trapped and dropped off in a field without food, water or shelter, 15 miles from home.
I’ll answer your question fully shortly.
Hi Jocelyn, I don’t really have to research this because I believe that I know the answer. If a person traps a domestic cat and removes that cat from his/her owner and dumps her 15 miles away that is a crime. It is both animal cruelty and theft. The federal law will cover that. There may also be a law on animal abandonment which this would be. If you did the same thing for a feral cat the outcome is different because these cats are already unowned and living wild. Under these circumstances the person would be relocating the cats. This happens sometimes. It is normally done under TNR work. It would not be a crime. If the feral cats were fed and then moved to another place where they were not fed it would be an immoral act and cruel but it would not be a crime. I hope this helps.