Mr. Speaker, my second petition has to do with animal cruelty. The petitioners note that the vast majority of Canadians support modern and enforceable legislation that protects all animals from deliberate and reckless acts of cruelty. They also note that animal cruelty is considered a property offence under the provisions of the Criminal Code, which have not significantly been revised since they were first enacted in 1892. The amendments to the provisions, which Parliament passed in April 2008, merely raised the potential penalties for the few accused persons who can be convicted and did not materially improve protection for animals. The petition further notes that amendments to the Criminal Code are still required to close the loopholes that allow perpetrators of animal cruelty to avoid conviction.
Petitioners feel that Canada has weaker legislation than other jurisdictions and are therefore calling on the government to modernize the animal cruelty provisions in the Criminal Code to effectively protect all animals from deliberate acts of cruelty.