Quebec & Puppy Mills .. NAILED

Animal rights activists target Quebec puppy mills
October 09, 2008
Sidhartha Banerjee
THE CANADIAN PRESS

MONTREAL– Animal rights activists say two recent puppy
mill busts in Quebec illustrate a far greater problem than
previously imagined and highlight the need for more
government action.

With that in mind, the Canadian Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals is heading to Quebec City on Friday
hoping to secure more powers from the agriculture minister
as well as funding to help tackle what some are calling a
burgeoning, unchecked problem.

In the span of a week earlier this month, animal welfare
officials raided two mills operating in rural areas north of
Montreal, saving some 275 animals.

"The fact that we performed two major puppy mill raids in
less than a week certainly signifies the severity of the
problem in Quebec," said Rebecca Aldworth, director of
animal programs at Humane Society International Canada.

"Quebec is considered by many animal rights activists to be
the puppy mill capital of North America and this situation
exists because we have fairly weak provincial laws and they
cannot be enforced by the SPCA."

There's a hope that some of the horrific images broadcast in
recent weeks will prompt people to push the Quebec
government for change.

Welfare workers say the clandestine facilities housed dogs
living in close quarters, in some cases next to the rotting
carcasses of other dogs that had died. Some dogs were having
trouble walking while others had matted fur and open sores
all over their bodies.

"The animals were living in this, covered in feces and fleas
and there was very little food and water available to the
dogs," Aldworth said. "Many of the dogs were skin and bones
– over 90 per cent of the dogs were emaciated."

Unlike in much of the rest of the country, animal welfare
enforcement in Quebec does not exclusively lie with the
SPCA. The chief complaint among some activists is that the
non-profit organization set up to do the job is more
interested in helping mill owners set up shop legally.

But the group mandated by the provincial government to
oversee animal welfare in Quebec says the situation isn't as
bad as portrayed and the numbers being spouted by animal
activists don't add up.

"When they say there are 2,000 puppy mills but they are all
clandestine you have to wonder how they can say there are
that many, how do they know?" said Veronique Langlois,
executive-director of Anima-Quebec.

"Are we the capital in Quebec? No, it's false."

Langlois says calling Quebec the "puppy mill capital" may
have been appropriate a decade ago when activists were
attempting to rally public support, but the situation has
since changed.

"For certain people, they say if there are 50 or 60 or 100
animals in cages, that's a puppy mill," Langlois said. "Or
if the owner is making money, it's a puppy mill.

"But breeding is not illegal. But certainly there are
certain criteria for keeping animals. We prefer to use the
term ethical or unethical breeding."

That's why the SPCA's Alanna Devine says her organization' s
two inspectors need the same powers as Anima-Quebec
inspectors. The two groups have divergent views on the
issue.

"In my opinion anyone who is breeding a large number of dogs
of all different breeds and profiting from it as their main
source of income is not properly treating the animals," says
Devine, acting director the SPCA.

"Being a dog owner and having spoken to breeders, it is
actually impossible to turn a profit from breeding dogs
because if you're doing it properly the cost of caring from
them and caring for the puppies is so astronomical. "

Aldworth said the groups on Anima-Quebec' s board include the
Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, which represents pet
stores and large-scale breeders.

"It's like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse when it
comes to puppy mills," Aldworth said.

Aldworth says Quebecers need to pressure their local
politicians to do more and that the proper authority should
be the SPCA because it is a non-profit organization that
does not represent the pet trade.

Pet stores are where the majority of puppy mill dogs end up,
activists argue.

The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies says not having
a provincial society with the authority to act has caused a
lot of cruelty cases to fall through the cracks.

"They (Anima-Quebec) have done some good things, but they
have five inspectors and Ontario has close to 300," said
Shelagh MacDonald, program director with the organization.

"So as you can see, it's not even on the same page."

Langlois says Anima-Quebec is doing its job and wants to
work with anyone interested in promoting the well-being of
animals.

She says the organization has doubled its budget to $400,000
and acknowledges that fundraising is necessary. In the past
year, the group has finally started to see some cases being
prosecuted also.

"I don't know of any non-profit organization that'll tell
you `No, I don't need any more people'," says Langlois.

"But I'm looking at what has been done since the creation of
Anima and what we've done since 2005 and that's how you have
to look at it."