Province plans changes to OSPCA's enforcement authority

Thursday, September 12, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

Farmers will have to wait and see what changes the government is introducing to the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ authority and funding to determine what impact they’ll have on the agricultural community.

Craig MacBride, press secretary for Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Madeline Meilluer, says they plan to announce the details of their proposals near the end of October. “We’re not releasing details at this point.”

The government announced last October that it would propose legislative amendments to improve care for marine mammals at aquariums and zoos and strengthen animal welfare enforcement across Ontario after reports on the care and treatment of marine mammals at Marineland in Niagara Falls raised concerns about their welfare.

Among the changes the government says it will introduce are:

• Legislative amendments to the OSPCA Act to improve province-wide enforcement of animal protection measures in the Act.
• Creating new regulations to further protect marine mammals in captivity.
• Licensing zoos and aquariums.

MacBride says the community safety and correctional services ministry is hammering out the details now “about exactly what they (the OSPCA) will be covering and how their authority will change.”

One of the proposals calls for expanding the society’s authority, he notes. But the rules around standards of care won’t be changed as part of these proposals.

The amount of increased funding for the society hasn’t been worked out yet, MacBride says. By email he notes the government has given the society $500,000 annually since 2007 for the training of inspectors and agents. The OSPCA is primarily funded through donations.

Crystal Mackay, executive director of Farm & Food Care Ontario, says by email the terms around funding and more authority for the OSPCA are vague. “Until we see something in writing from the government, it’s all speculation.”

Mark Wales, Ontario Federation of Agriculture president, says they don’t support giving the society greater province-wide authority and more government funding. But Wales says they don’t have a firm sense yet of exactly what changes the government will introduce.

Wales is on an industry working group studying the proposals. Giving the OSPCA more government funding “is not something we asked for,” he notes. “They (OSPCA) raise all kinds of money now, why would we give them more money?”

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food should really be doing farm investigations and not the OSPCA, he explains. But the society can go with them “if that’s the compromise position. It needs to be OMAF (representatives) who have the responsibility because they have the expertise and the farm community will see them as fair.”

Agent Brad Dewar, OSPCA investigations and communications officer, referred questions to the community safety and correctional services minister’s office. “They’re probably best to speak to about what they may be looking at.” Currently “I’m not aware of what changes they’re looking at.” BF