Taking a look at Quebec…

Animals and civil rights

According to the Civil Code of Quebec, animals are litterally titled as furniture.

In Quebec, animal abuse can result in fines of no more than 600$-1800$ (comparatively, Ontario fines up to 60 000$) and only in the most severe cases, the accused can be prohibited from keeping animals for a certain amount of time and get a minor jail sentence. However, in the majority of cases of animal abuse – whether reported or not – the animal abuser may never be brought to justice for his actions.

What about the animal protection movement?

Stéphane Lair, teacher at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Montreal, explains that the activist movement against animal cruelty in Quebec is fairly inactive compared to the rest of Canada, the United States and certainly in Europe. He says it can be explained by their hunting and agricultural ancestry. ”It seems to me that many of us grew up on a farm or at least have seen pigs and livestock at a fairly young age. And we’ve all seen in our families hunters proudly sharing their game during the holidays.”

All of us? I was born in Quebec and neither of them were hunters nor farmers. I have to admit, though, that I’ve had the occasion of visiting a pig farm when I was little: what I saw was an horrific, supposedly organic and small-scale breeding operation where sows (female pigs) were stuck in metal crates where it was impossible for them to turn around. Their piglets were feeding from her between the metal bars of her cage. I remember that the smell of urine was almost unbearable and that there was feces all over the concrete floors. The poor animals were treated as if they were meat-producing machines, a thing that has almost certainly not changed in factory farms during these past 10 years.

Yet, in a NRD magazine article, it it said that the treatment of animals has so drastically improved, it had never been so satisfying than today. The author adds that the concept of humane treatment of animals has even reached laboratories and conducted actual changes in the factory farming. But think about this: even if the majority of the public cares more about companion animals than farm animals, there are still thousands of Puppy Mills running all over the province and the actual laws are too weak to do anything about them. Having that said, could the general idea of improved treatment of animals only be a myth intended to the consumer?

Still according to the law…

”Judges have to consider an animal as an inanimate object, and apply the legal rule responding to property loss”, says Alain Roy, family lawyer, for the National Magazine of the Canadian Bar Association. ”But we shouldn’t just consider a companion animal as a piece of furniture, unless we want to come up to a silly and maladjusted agreement. The relationship between a man and an animal is a social and indiscutable reality of our times and legislators should take that into account.”

Those who want to change things

Dogs, cats, rabbits and other companion animals became the victims of their popularity and have not been spared by human ignorance. While the lucky ones are cared for and unconditionally loved, the rest of them are being abandoned, exploited, abused, neglected and killed. Some things desperatly need to be changed. Thankfully, while there are less people involved in animal protection in Quebec than in other parts of the country, advocacy groups like Aequo Animo and UPRA, animal shelters and rescue groups along with many individuals are working hard to make a difference. Us too!

Let’s hang in there and never give up.

Sincerely,

Cath

P.S.: If possible, join us in our walk against gas chambers, on Saturday, April 17, 2010 in Montreal. Click here for more info!