The election is coming! Do you love animals and want to know who to vote for? We asked the New Democrats what they are doing for animals, and this is what they said:
New Democrats recognize that animal welfare is very important. We support strengthening provisions of the Cruelty to Animals Section of the Criminal Code of Canada to discourage violence and cruelty against animals and to punish those responsible for such acts.
We continue to support meaningful legislation to provide real protection for animals. The abuse of any vulnerable creature, human or otherwise, is something that we should all take extremely seriously. Specifically, the NDP are on record in support of amending the Criminal Code to:
– move the protection of animals out of property law and extend protections to wild animals and strays
– make it illegal to train animals for fighting or profit from animal fighting
– close loopholes that allow 99 per cent of those charged with animal cruelty to escape conviction
We fought tirelessly in the past to get these important amendments through the House of Commons. We agree that the legislation Bill S-203, ‘An Act to amend the Criminal Code (cruelty to animals)’, is deeply flawed and that is why we joined the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS), International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) in opposing this Bill.
In addition, you may be interested in these legislative initiatives of New Democrat MPs:
C-518: An Act to amend the Fisheries Act (closed containment aquaculture)
Please be assured that we will continue to work with all who are dedicated to animal welfare and the fight for stronger animal cruelty laws in Canada.
You may also be interested in visiting the website of the World Society for the Protection of Animals which has published a survey we completed on animal welfare: http://www.wspa.ca/voteforanimals/ndp.html
