For the first time in two decades, Alberta is strengthening its animal protection laws. Although the federal Criminal Code prohibits animal abuse, each province oversees its own legislation prohibiting animals from being in distress.
The Alberta SPCA’s peace officers enforce animal welfare legislation across the province, from rural communities to urban centres. The current legislation, the oldest and weakest in Canada, is seeing its first major revisions it was last updated in 2005.
What is the Animal Protection Act?
The Animal Protection Act (APA) is Alberta’s legislation governing the welfare of animals.
Under the APA, animals are deemed to be in distress if:
- They are deprived of essentials like food, water and shelter,
- Abused or neglected,
- Subject to undue hardship.
Caregivers have a duty to provide proper care and cannot allow animals to fall into distress.
If animals are found in distress, peace officers can:
- Provide corrective instructions for caregivers to relieve distress
- Seize animals if urgent care requires or instructions aren’t followed
- Lay charges under the APA
The APA applies to any animals that are being cared for by humans but allows for exemptions for generally accepted practices such as hunting or pest control. The APA also outlines peace officers’ reach and jurisdiction, limiting their ability to conduct proactive inspections and enforce prohibition orders without other law enforcement.
The Alberta SPCA’s Role
The Alberta SPCA’s Animal Protection Services (APS) team enforces the APA in every region of Alberta. Our peace officers investigate calls from across the province about companion animals like dogs, cats and snakes to livestock like goats, horses, and cattle.
When we find animals in distress, our officers’ first step is to work collaboratively with caregivers to identify causes of distress and how it can be relieved. This may include:
- Improving living conditions such as adding shelter
- Ensuring proper nutrition,
- Providing veterinary care
In serious cases where urgent intervention is needed, officers may seize the animals, working with temporary caregivers across the province to ensure animals receive proper care and housing while next steps are determined.
While this might sound straightforward, our APS team sometimes faces people who exploit loopholes in the APA, leaving animals in potentially distressful situations. For instance, under the current law, an individual with a prohibition order from another province is permitted to care for animals in Alberta.
Furthermore, the basic definition of distress in the APA results in animals being allowed to remain situations we know are not safe or healthy, such as not receiving proper exercise.
These shortfalls in the APA are well known in the animal welfare community, and advocating for meaningful updates has been a top priority for our organization. This spring, the provincial government took action to strengthen animal protection.
Bill 22: Making Progress
Through a stakeholder engagement process, the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation — which oversees the APA — carried out conversations across the province, identifying what changes needed to be made to modernize legislation to provide better protection for animals in Alberta.
As a primary enforcement agency, the Alberta SPCA was asked to provide key insight, thoughtful language and detail on what updated legislation might include.
On March 30, Bill 22, the Animal Protection Amendment Act, was introduced by the provincial government.
The bill received Royal Assent on May 14, officially marking a major step forward for animal protections in Alberta.
What’s Changing
The proposed changes include expanding the definition of distress. For example, animals would be considered in distress if they were found in unsanitary conditions, or if they were exposed to long-term conditions which may cause fear and anxiety. Animal care duties have risen to match this updated definition, ensuring animals receive the proper care they need.
As always, our peace officers prioritize improving conditions and keeping humans and animals together. With the proposed changes to the APA, after a corrective action order has been provided, peace officers will be able to conduct follow-up investigations to ensure compliance and animal welfare.
Prohibition orders laid in other provinces would be enforceable in Alberta; our province will be the first in Canada to make this change. Bill 22 also proposes that prohibition orders could be issued without a conviction, meaning a lengthy and expensive trial may not be necessary to keep animals out of distressful situations.
Additionally, if our peace officers find an individual in violation of a prohibition order, they would be able to enforce it themselves, taking animals out of a dangerous situation before distress occurs.
Bill 22 also marks substantial increases to penalties offenders will face; a new maximum of $250,000 has been proposed from the current $20,000 maximum, and a jail sentence of up to a year would be added.
Now that the Bill has received royal assent, the Government will write regulations to ensure the details are clearly laid out.
What This Means for Albertans
While loopholes will be closed to target malicious individuals and repeat offenders, education and cooperation remain the top priority for peace officers. The vast majority of investigations end with humans and animals staying together. Only 2% of the animals we investigate end up in our care. Many cases end with caregivers improving the conditions for animals and a better level of understanding being achieved.
Our goal remains to keep animals out of distress, and we know these changes will empower us to have a wider impact. However, new legislation means new challenges. Our enforcement team is working behind the scenes on new training and procedures to ensure our team is prepared to enforce this updated legislation.
While we are thrilled to see one of our organization’s top priorities almost achieved, the work is just beginning. With 80% of our overall funding coming from donors, we rely on Albertans to continue helping to protect animals across our province.
Your donations fund the rescue and care of animals in distress.
To donate to the Alberta SPCA today, click here.