Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
In my second round of questions, I'm going to turn to Ms. Thomson.
Before this meeting, I attended a meeting where I had the opportunity to discuss the important role that pets play in the lives of families. When an incident or tragedy occurs, we also wonder what we should do with the animals. So that was one of the topics that was discussed.
My colleague Ms. Gazan talked about the fact that a small percentage of shelters for battered women accept animals. This is problematic, since animals are sometimes part of the victim's path to healing. In addition, if we criminalize coercive behaviour, more situations can be reported and therefore more women will be eligible to get help from an organization in order to heal. We also know that animals can often serve as a form of therapy. I once had the opportunity to speak with a woman who used, among other things, equine-assisted therapy, with horses, to help women who were victims of violence get better. I would therefore like to explore potential solutions with you.
Do you have any concrete solutions to address the need for women and families to take their pets with them after they denounce an abuser, for example? Is it a matter of making more room in shelters, in spite of the issues it may cause?