Image from change.org petition started by Missy Stehle
1. Petition to Relocate Lucy the Elephant from Edmonton Valley Zoo to Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary
We are pleased to pass on this petition started by Missy Stehle. It only takes a moment to sign.
As individuals who care deeply for the emotional and physical wellbeing of animals, we are saddened by the situation of Lucy, our beloved elephant, who is currently living in isolation at Edmonton Valley Zoo. Lucy’s story may be personal to me, but the implications of her situation are universal. The zoo director, who is also a member of the Canadian Accredited Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA), has violated one of the fundamental rules of the organization in persuading others that Lucy should continue living alone. This is despite the fact that this solitary existence has been proven to have deleterious effects on elephants, both physically and mentally. His influence has even extended to the Mayor, who has been led to believe that Lucy is unable to travel due to ill health.
However, according to a third-party assessment, the crux of the issue lies in the environment in which Lucy is being forced to exist. It has been proven repeatedly that elephants, being social animals, suffer greatly when isolated. Lucy needs to leave her current environment to have a chance at a mentally and physically healthy lifestyle. The Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary could provide Lucy with this much-needed respite and companionship, a possibility that is being denied to her at the Edmonton Valley Zoo.
Evidently, the time to act is now. We cannot sit by and see Lucy live out her days in the unconscionable condition of loneliness. Keep in mind, the quality of a society can be judged by the way its animals are treated. As such, by taking a stand for Lucy, we are affirming our commitment to the compassionate and humane treatment of animals. Please, sign this petition to help relocate Lucy from Edmonton Valley Zoo to Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary, where she can finally live the rest of her days in peace.
2. Urge Turkey to Manage Dogs Humanely
From Humane Society International:
Recently, the president of Türkiye approved requiring municipalities to remove the country’s estimated 4 million stray dogs from the streets and put them into shelters. Unfortunately, Türkiye lacks adequate shelter space to accommodate large numbers of dogs, with most municipalities having no shelters at all. This means that countless dogs, if not adopted, will die in shelters. A previous law supported a humane approach to managing street dog populations involving spay/neuter and return of dogs to their communities.
The system adopted under the new law will undoubtably involve mass euthanasia and deaths of large numbers of dogs. There are already reports of dog roundups around the country.
Sheltering, mass euthanasia and culling of stray dog populations are neither effective nor humane. A far more effective approach, and the one that HSI employs throughout the world, involves the humane capture, spay/neuter, vaccination, and return of dogs to their home communities.
We encourage the president and Türkiye’s parliament to reconsider the new law, and to instead embrace established management approaches that are humane and efficient in achieving reductions in street dog populations over time. We have offered to provide evidence and expert advice concerning better approaches for managing street dog populations to decision-makers, approaches we know will benefit both the people and animals of Türkiye.
Add your name in support of our message to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Türkiye asking for humane treatment of street dogs and effective solutions to the management of their populations.
3. Support Parliamentary Petition Asking Canada to Recognize Nonhuman Animals as Sentient and Not Property
Please take a moment to review and sign this petition asking the the Government of Canada to recognized nonhuman animals as sentient and not property. Our thanks to Maureen Boag of Toronto for initiating it and alerting us to it. Thanks also to the Honourable Elizabeth May, MP of the Green Party for supporting it. The petition closes for signatures on November 10, 2024 at 10:26 am (EDT).
Petition to the Government of Canada
Whereas:
- Under current Canadian law, animals are not considered sentient beings, and are classified as property;
- Sentience is the ability to experience feelings and sensations, and is an ethical basis for determining that animals deserve moral consideration;
- On April 19, 2024, the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness was initially signed by 39 scientists, philosophers, legal scholars and those in relevant fields, from Canada and around the world, there are currently 457 signatures, the Declaration affirms there is strong scientific evidence that all vertebrates and many invertebrates possess conscious experiences, and, by consciousness, the document is referring to sentience;
- Professor Kristin Andrews, Toronto York University Research Chair in Animal Minds, who has studied animal cognition for more than 30 years, co-initiated the New York Declaration, saying “the declaration affirms that we can no longer assume these creatures are insentient or incapable of feeling… we need to recognize they likely feel pain and pleasure, and minimize the negative experiences we impose on them”;
- The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association “holds that the recognition of animal sentience should be considered within the Canadian legal system under nationally harmonized animal welfare legislation to ensure consistent application and enforcement”; and
- The 32 countries that have formally recognized non-human animal sentience include the European Union, Switzerland, Chile, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
We, the undersigned, Professor Kristin Andrews, York Research Chair in Animal Minds, Dr. Judith Samson-French CVMA, Will Kymlicka (Order of Canada), Canadian Research Chair in Political Philosophy, Queen’s University, Sue Donaldson, Department of Philosophy, Queen’s University, Vancouver Humane Society, Animal Justice, Montreal SPCA, Animal Alliance of Canada, Humane Society International/Canada, Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals, and citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to pass legislation that recognizes animals as the sentient beings they are, rather than property.
4. Take Action: Write to Fort Saskatchewan & Let the Mayor Know that Drowning or Killing Cats with Car Exhaust is Not Okay
Mayor Gale Katchur of Fort Saskatchewan has been recorded on video laughing about the killing of cats by drowning or exposing them to car exhaust – the way they were dealt with as she grew up. The video is short and available below. Please take a moment to watch and then visit the Fort Saskatchewan website and remind them that cats feel pain and suffer, are deserving of humane treatment, and that there are humane ways of managing feral cat colonies like trap, spay/neuter and feed programs. You might want to also ask if the kind of comments made by the Mayor is what Fort Saskatchewan wants to be known for. You could reflect on how it might affect tourism.
To see Mayor Gale Katchur’s comments visit:
TAKE ACTION:
To contact the Office of the Mayor, Fort Saskatchewan go to:
https://www.fortsask.ca/en/your-city-hall/city-council.aspx
5. Tell Oregon Health & Science University to Stop Using Live Pigs for Surgery Practice
From PETA:
Doctors-in-training at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) use live pigs as human stand-ins to practice surgeries as part of the school’s obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) residency program, according to disturbing public records obtained by PETA.
We sent a complaint to OHSU urging it to adopt a public policy against using live animals in its OB/GYN residency training, but officials have refused to respond. We need your help to demand that the school end this needless cruelty immediately.
The records PETA obtained show that at least 64 physician OB/GYN residents cut into as many as 48 live female pigs, dissected their organs, and performed other invasive surgeries on the animals—all of whom were later killed. Residents participated in five OB/GYN training drills on live pigs between 2019 and 2021 at OHSU, making the university an outlier among its peer accredited institutions and out of step with educational best practices.
Most Schools Have Moved On
Dozens of accredited OB/GYN residency training programs—including those at Texas A&M University, the University of California–Los Angeles, the University of North Carolina, and the University of Washington—have abandoned live-animal training, according to an ongoing PETA survey of the programs recognized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Instead, programs such as the ones at Henry Ford Health, Rush University, and Aurora Sinai Medical Center use advanced, human-relevant simulators, which are equal, if not superior, to training on live animals. And the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) confirmed to PETA that “[p]rogramming offered by ACOG does not involve the use of live animals or animal parts.”
“The OB/GYN residency program at Henry Ford Hospital does not use animals for training purposes, and instead uses advanced human patient simulators and other non-animal methods.”
—Henry Ford Health, Obstetrics & Gynecology Residency
Even the U.S. Department of Defense has banned the use of animals for OB/GYN residency training and several other medical education areas since 2014, stating unequivocally that “suitable simulation alternatives can replace the use of live animals.” Furthermore, there are federal ethical provisions in place that compel the minimization of animal use in experiments and training, including the federal Animal Welfare Act.
Live-Animal Training Is Substandard Education
In medicine, lifesaving decisions must often be made within seconds, so familiarity with human anatomical structures is crucial. Pigs and other animals cannot accurately mimic human anatomy. They are simply not the same.
For instance, pig uteruses have an entirely different structure from human uteruses. Other key structures also have different lengths in pigs vs. humans. There are myriad microscopic anatomical differences between pigs and humans within each organ, too. Substandard training using pigs, such as OHSU’s, fails to prepare doctors for real-life situations.
Better Methods Are Available, Cheaper, and in Use
Non-animal human simulators are available, are in use, and have proved to be more cost-effective and efficient, while accurately modeling human anatomy and physiology. Human simulators, which range from high-fidelity human-patient simulation to computer-assisted learning, create immersive scenarios mimicking real-world medical cases, providing students with hands-on training immediately applicable to human patients.
Gynecological simulators ranging from partial task trainers to advanced virtual reality systems are available. For instance, researchers have validated a cost-effective non-animal simulation model to teach vaginal hysterectomy—and another study found that high-fidelity simulators were “cheaper than practicing on laboratory animals” in the long term.
What You Can Do
Please take a moment to visit PETA’s page on this issue by using the button below. It provides talking points and an opportunity to send a letter to multiple school officials plus a form that allows you to send a pre-written letter to still more.
6. Show your Support for a Dog Meat-Free Bok Nal in South Korea
The information and petition below is from Humane Society International. Please take a moment to sign.
The Bok Nal summer season in South Korea, a period of time in July and August that spans the hottest days of the year, according to the lunar calendar, is happening now. It’s also a time of year when more people than usual eat dog meat soup and other foods believed to cool the blood against the heat. Hundreds of thousands of dogs a year are intensively bred for human consumption on squalid dog meat farms, the majority of whom are killed for the Bok Nal period.
Following years of campaigning by HSI/Korea and others, South Korea’s National Assembly recently passed into law a ban on the dog meat industry—farming, sale and slaughter. The ban will see an end to this brutal industry once and for all. But it doesn’t come into effect until 2027. This Bok Nal our HSI/Korea team is joining with other Korean animal groups and countless dog-loving citizens to stand for a dog meat-free Bok Nal. Please stand with us in South Korea and add your voice of support for eating with compassion this Bok Nal. There are so many alternative ways to cool down in the heat that don’t cause dogs or any animals to suffer and die for human consumption. Let’s come together with dog champions of South Korea and say yes to a dog meat-free Bok Nal!
Please add your name to show support from around the world for South Korea’s dog meat ban, a dog meat-free future and a better life for all dogs, everywhere.
7. Horse Racing: Take Action
Vancouver’s Hasting Racecourse recently offered it’s annual event called “The Cup”, we wanted to remind people of the cruelty involved in horse racing. The article and videos below are from PETA.
They weigh more than 1,000 pounds, are supported by ankles the size of a human’s, and are whipped and forced to run around tracks that are often made of hard-packed dirt at speeds of more than 30 miles per hour while carrying people on their backs. Racehorses are the victims of a multibillion-dollar industry that is rife with drug abuse, injuries, and race fixing, and many horses’ careers end at the slaughterhouse.
Racing to the Grave
Horses begin training or are already racing when their skeletal systems are still growing and are unprepared to handle the pressures of competition racing on a hard track at high speeds. One study on injuries at racetracks concluded that one horse in every 22 races suffered an injury that prevented him or her from finishing a race, while another estimated that 3 thoroughbreds die every day in North America because of catastrophic injuries during races.
Strained tendons or hairline fractures can be tough for veterinarians to diagnose, and the damage may go from minor to irreversible at the next race or workout. Horses do not handle surgery well, and many are euthanized or sold at auction to save the owners further veterinary fees and other expenses for horses who can’t race again.
When popular racehorse Barbaro suffered a shattered ankle at the beginning of the 2006 Preakness, his owners spared no expense for his medical needs, but as The New York Times reported, “[M]any in the business have noted that had Barbaro not been the winner of the Kentucky Derby, he might have been destroyed after being injured.”
Trainers and veterinarians keep injured horses racing when they should be recovering by giving them a variety of legal drugs to mask pain and control inflammation. This leads to breakdowns because horses are able to run when, without the drugs, the pain would otherwise prevent them from trying.
Illegal drugs are also widely used. “There are trainers pumping horses full of illegal drugs every day,” says a former Churchill Downs public relations director. “With so much money on the line, people will do anything to make their horses run faster.” One trainer was suspended for using a drug similar to Ecstasy in five horses, and another has been kicked off racetracks for using clenbuterol and, in one case, for having the leg of a euthanized horse cut off “for research.” A New York veterinarian and a trainer faced felony charges when the body of a missing racehorse turned up at a farm and authorities determined that her death had been caused by the injection of a “performance-enhancing drug.”
Even the ‘Winners’ Lose
When they stop winning races or become injured, few racehorses are retired to pastures, because owners don’t want to pay for a horse who doesn’t bring in any money. Many end up in slaughterhouses in Canada, Mexico, or Japan, where they are turned into dog food and glue. Their flesh is also exported to countries such as France and Japan, where it is considered a delicacy.
Most horses who are sent to those facilities endure days of transport in cramped trailers where there is no access to water or food and injuries are common. Horses are subject to the same slaughter method as cows, but since horses are generally not accustomed to being herded, once together, they tend to thrash about in order to avoid being shot by the captive-bolt gun, which is supposed to render them unconscious before their throats are cut.
What You Can Do:
Help end the cruelty:
- As long as the suffering continues, refuse to patronize existing tracks and lobby against the construction of new tracks.
- Support PETA’s efforts to ensure that racing regulations are reformed and enforced. While horse racing can never be entirely safe for the animals, a zero-tolerance drug policy, turf (grass) tracks only, a ban on whipping, competitive racing only after their third birthdays, and other reforms would make a world of difference to the horses.
From PETA
8. Help Stop Pound Seizure Practices in Ontario
We are horrified by the practice of pound seizures that send animals from pound or shelter to research or educational facilities in Ontario and happy to share the change.org petition on the issue. Please read and sign. It only takes a moment!
We are residents of Kingston, ON, Canada and this issue is deeply personal to us. The practice of pound seizure – the selling or giving away of animals from a pound or shelter to research and educational facilities – has been causing immense suffering for both non-human animals and their caregivers. This outdated and cruel practice leads to non-human animal suffering on an unimaginable scale.
In Ontario alone, countless animals are subjected to this fate every year. These innocent non-human animals are taken from shelters and pounds where they should be safe, only to be used in experiments that often lead to pain and death. Not only does this cause immeasurable harm to the animals involved, but it also inflicts emotional trauma on caregivers who lose their companion animal to this practice.
The impact extends beyond just the immediate victims. It discourages companion animal caregivers from using shelters and pounds out of fear their pets could end up in research labs if they ever got lost. This subsequently puts more pressure on rescue organizations that are already stretched thin.
It’s time we put an end to pound seizure in Ontario once and for all. We need legislation that protects our companion animals from being sold into research without consent, ensuring they have a chance at finding loving homes instead of ending up as test subjects.
Please join us in calling upon our local government representatives here in Kingston as well as provincial leaders across Ontario; let’s urge them together to terminate these heart-wrenching practices immediately! Sign this petition today because every signature brings us one step closer towards ending animal suffering caused by pound seizure.
9. Stop Testing Sewer Water on Fish and Other Animals
Please stop the “acute lethality tests” on rainbow trout, three lined stickleback, and other fish species. These tests involve pumping effluents into fish tanks about once a month, and if more than half the fish die, the experiments are repeated.
There are animal free ways to test for pollution. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine suggests using rainbow trout cell lines instead (obtained without harming fish).
https://www.pcrm.org/news/good-science-digest/world-aquatic-animal-day
Any guardians of companion fish will test their tank using paper strips and test tubes. They do not deliberately expose the fish to effluents to see what happens. Bacteria and pollutants in swimming pools are also tested without animals.
Please also end the practice of sublethal toxicity testing of effluent on baby fathead minnows, rainbow trout, and other animals. These animals are killed, dried, weighed, and preserved.
Please stop putting up tree swallow nest boxes in order to kill and dissect the babies to test for toxins in and near the oil sands. And please stop catching, killing, and dissecting wood frogs for the same reasons. Please switch to the non lethal bio monitoring methods used in humans.
Cruelty free alternatives to toxicity testing involve using plants, phytobacteria, or cell cultures.
And stop working with scientists, trappers, hunters, and anglers to catch, kill, and cut up fish, frogs, mammals, birds, etc to weigh and test their organs for selenium, mercury, other pollutants, and reproductive issues. There are humane non lethal blood tests to examine if any wild animal is healthy and have not been exposed to toxins.
A city that wants to go cruelty free can not if they are mandated to test their sewer water on animals. Water used to cool nuclear power plants is also tested in fish for any radioactive effects. Pulp and paper mills that want to use only recycled paper and be ethical are forced to test on and kill animals. Mining companies and factories that want to be more ethical are also still forced to conduct harmful animal effluent testing. Canada is legally mandated to phase out animal toxicity testing, yet many agencies are legally mandated to conduct these cruel tests. Please put an end to all animal toxicity testing and go cruelty free.
10. Ontario’s Ag Gag Law Defeated in Court but More Work to Be Done: Take Action Against the Federal Ag Gag Bill
We have previously shared actions regarding Canadian ag gag laws. These laws make it illegal for whistleblowers to go undercover at a factory farm or slaughterhouse to expose hidden animal suffering. The laws are the result of lobbying by animal agriculture industries. Now, we are happy to share news about this victory in court: in Ontario it has been struck down as unconstitutional. Our thanks to Animal Justice for their work to make this happen! Unfortunately, there is still more work to be done. Ag gag laws have also passed in Alberta, Manitoba, and PEI, and there is a proposed federal ag gag law in the Senate. At the end of the post below, there is a button for an Animal Justice action that allows you to send a letter geared at stopping Canada’s federal ag gag bill.
From Animal Justice:
A win for animals and free expression! Animal Justice lawyers have successfully defeated much of Ontario’s ag gag law in court—a law aimed at silencing whistleblowers and journalists who go undercover to investigate and expose animal suffering in the meat, dairy, egg, and fur farming industries.
In 2020, Ontario passed Bill 156, the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, a dangerous law designed to shut down undercover investigations in farms and slaughterhouses, and limit peaceful protests where advocates bear witness to animals in transport trucks en route to slaughter. The animal agriculture industry lobbied heavily for the legislation to protect its profits, and to keep rampant animal cruelty hidden from public view.
Under Ontario’s ag gag law, it became illegal for a whistleblower to use a false pretense to get a job at a farm or slaughterhouse, meaning that if someone seeking a job at these facilities wasn’t transparent about their intentions to document conditions, or denied affiliation with an animal rights group, they could be hit with heavy fines.
Numerous Canadian undercover exposés have revealed a shocking pattern of abuse and illegal cruelty in the animal agriculture industry—including animals suffering in deplorable conditions, enduring painful mutilations, and being violently kicked, beaten, and killed with botched methods.
Shocking secretly-recorded footage has also received widespread media attention, showing the public heartbreaking standard practices on farms, including locking mother pigs in tiny metal cages, tearing newborn calves from their mother cows, and confining hens in wire cages that are so tiny, that they can’t even spread their wings.
Justice Markus Koehnen of the Superior Court found that the law and its regulation restrict undercover investigations, both in their intention and outcome. Justice Koehnen ruled that multiple provisions of the Regulation are unconstitutional as they violate the right to freedom of expression guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The lawsuit also challenged restrictions on protests outside slaughterhouses where advocates photograph animals inside trucks on their way to be killed, but unfortunately the Court upheld restrictions on interacting with animals inside trucks bound for slaughter.
There are no proactive government inspections on farms, and farmed animal treatment is largely unregulated, which is why the court also recognized the importance of transparency and accountability in the agricultural sector.
The Importance of Undercover Exposés
Animal Justice was joined by two applicants in the case whose work on behalf of animals is jeopardized by Ontario’s ag gag laws: freelance journalist Jessica Scott-Reid, and animal advocate Louise Jorgensen with Toronto Cow Save. Intervenors in the case included Animal Alliance of Canada, the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, and The Regan Russell Foundation.
Over the last decade, more than a dozen Canadian investigations into factory farms and slaughterhouses have exposed the hidden practices of the animal agriculture industry, unveiling the disturbing truth of the suffering endured by cows, pigs, turkeys, and chickens in the food system.
These exposés are shocking and powerful, and have resulted in convictions and fines against farms for breaking animal cruelty laws. Animal Justice’s last undercover investigation in Ontario before the law came into effect was conducted at Paragon factory pig farm, and the farm later pleaded guilty to two animal cruelty offences for cutting the tails and testicles off of piglets without anesthesia, and performing an illegal c-section on a live, conscious pig.
First Court Win Against Canadian Ag Gag Laws
This is the first time in Canadian history that an ag gag law has been challenged in court, and this victory bodes well for the continued fight against these dangerous laws across the country. In recent years, ag gag laws have been passed in Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, and PEI, and are being proposed at the federal level under Bill C-275.
In the US, ag gag laws have been struck down as unconstitutional by judges in six states, including Iowa, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and North Carolina.
Thank you to everyone who has been by our side for the last four years as our team has fought relentlessly to defeat ag gag laws. Our work is far from over—we will continue our efforts to challenge ag gag laws in court, and prevent new ones from passing.
If you haven’t already done so, please use the button below to send a letter asking senators to reject Canada’s Ag Gag bill:
11. Make Grocery Stores Stop Selling Live Animals
Recent science has demonstrated that lobsters, fish and other sea creatures are as sensitive to pain and stress as mammals. In the U.K. Crustaceans have been recognized as sentient beings in an amendment to the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill. A review of the research to back up recognition of their sentience is available from the London School of Economics and Political Science and can be seen here.
This post contains two actions that you can take: a letter writing action from ADAV and a petition from Animal Justice that you can sign. Please note that in a response to one letter writer, Thriftys claims to take good care of its lobsters and crabs. However, the store knows full well that they are destined to be boiled alive – the most common way of cooking them.
Letter Writing:
Please consider sending a letter to the following grocery stores and any others where you see live animals being sold. Most grocery stores also have contact info up on their websites that allow for electronic letters as well.
- Sobeys Inc (own Thriftys). CEO. Michael B. Midline
115 King Street. Stellarton. Nova Scotia. B0K 1S0 - Loblaws Companies Ltd. CEO. Per Bank
1 President’s Choice Circle, Brampton. Ontario. L6Y 5S5 - T&T Supermarket Inc. CEO Tina Bank
21500 Gordon Way. Richmond. BC. V6W 1J8
Sample letter text:
Dear Manager,
We urge you to end the presence of live crabs and lobsters in your store.
The UK government has declared that lobsters, crabs, octopuses and related species will be included under the new Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill. This paves the way for legal protection from practices like being boiled alive and having the tendons of their pincers cut.
The government ruling is based on a recent report on the likelihood of sentience in cephalopods and decapod crustaceans and came from the London School of Economic.
“Sentience is the ability to have feelings, such as pain, distress, or comfort. Scientific evidence about the complex behaviour and nervous systems of these animals has been accumulating over recent decades, and it has led us to conclude that there is a strong likelihood of these species being sentient.”
“We are really pleased that the government has decided to protect cephalopods and decapods following our report. Nothing will change immediately, but it means that there is now a legal mechanism to allow them to be protected from unnecessary suffering in the future.”
– Dr. Charlotte Burn, a co-author on the report
As a loyal customer, I would be so pleased to see my local store carry the banner of compassion for our fellow beings. We will still be seeing meat and seafood in your store, but the presence of live beings whose welfare cannot be safeguarded nor their deaths be ensured to be humane is unendurable to a caring customer.
Petition from Animal Justice:
Note: We are told the petition should say lobsters travel up to 100 miles year, not 100 meters per year. That would be 160 kilometers! We’ve asked the person who mentioned this to contact the petition creator directly. We are unable to change a petition we didn’t create.
Text from Petition (button to sign appears below it):
At supermarkets across Canada, lobsters are crammed into tiny barren tanks. This is cruel to lobster as they are complex animals who feel pain and can experience distress from being in crowded environments. They are solitary animals that prefer to spend much of their time in the dark. They move around the ocean and can travel up to 100 meters in a year. Lobsters in the wild can also live past 100 years of age!
Researcher Michael Kuba says that lobsters are “quite amazingly smart animals”, and Neurobiologist Tom Abrams says that lobsters have “a full array of senses”.
At grocery stores, the lobster tanks are overcrowded, the stores are very bright, the lobsters can’t move around, and they are forced to live like that day after day. Studies confirm that lobsters kept in tanks suffer from stress associated with confinement, low oxygen levels, overcrowding, and starvation.
Lobsters lead complex social lives. They recognize other lobsters as individuals, and they know where they live. Lobsters and fish are recognized by experts as being capable of experiencing great suffering and distress. Scientists in the European Union classify lobsters as “category I” – that is, animals who experience pain. Also in this category are dogs, cats, chickens, pigs, and humans.
The Criminal Code of Canada contains language that criminalizes the causing of unnecessary pain, suffering, or injury to animals. Yet, this is what is occurring at Canadian grocery stores.
The Aquatic Animal Alliance recommends that sea life should have access to appropriate environments that enable their wellbeing, in conditions that promote good psychological health, and with sufficient space and materials required to let them express their natural behaviours.
After hearing from concerned customers, some grocery chains have discontinued the sale of live lobsters! We can send a message to all other grocery stores that this cruelty will not be tolerated.
12. Ask Canadian Government to Improve Companion Animal Status in Law
We are pleased to share this important petition from Concerns for Animals Collective (CFAC). In January of BC changes to BC Family Law Act and Provincial Court Family Rules meant that companion animals are no longer treated like inanimate property in situations like divorce. As CFAC says, we can almost say that in BC pets are not treated like furniture anymore. Unless we look at the Canadian Criminal Code where they are still treated like inanimate property. If your dog is stolen or tortured, it is treated like inanimate property. Please review the information below and sign the petition. It not only has implications for animals in BC but across Canada.
From CFAC:
In January 2024, changes to British Columbia’s Family Law Act and the Provincial Court Family Rules improved the status of companion animals in the province. In situations like divorce or separation, animals kept primarily for the purpose of companionship are no longer treated like property in the same sense that a car, computer or chair is. Now his or her ability to suffer is recognized along with his or her history and relationships with family members – and his or her best interests are to be taken into account in the event of a breakup of the family home. This may seem a small change, but it is actually a momentous first step. Animals are being recognized as more than inanimate property, something that has been a long time coming in Canadian law.
We can almost say that in BC pets are not treated like furniture. Unless we look at the Canadian Criminal Code. Under the Criminal Code all animals are treated like property in the same sense as the coffee table. If your dog is stolen in BC or anywhere else in Canada, it is treated like inanimate property. If your dog is tortured, it is treated like inanimate property.
We are urging the Federal government to follow BC’s example and recognize companion animals as being more than inanimate property. We ask that the government recognize their ability to suffer, their need to be protected from cruelty and their inherent right to protections under the law that are beyond what is applicable to inanimate objects.
This kind of thing is happening elsewhere in the world. In Spain animals are no longer considered “objects” under the law and their well being and protection are considered in cases of divorce or separation, much as is happening in BC. Wild animals are included in Spain’s law, but the focus is primarily on greater legal protections for domesticated animals, particularly in family disputes. This is part of a trend. There are actually more than 30 other countries that recognize animals as sentient including France, the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand and Tanzania.
We call on the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of Canada to amend the Criminal Code Sections 444 – 447 to provide for the welfare and protection of domestic companion animals.
If BC and other countries can recognize our companion animals as living beings with a status elevated over inanimate property under law, so can the Government of Canada.
13. Ask the Government to Recognize Animal Abuse in Coercive Control Legislation
Please review the information below from the BC SPCA and take a moment to send a quick letter to help protect animals from abuse by those involving them in the coercive control of others. It is a time sensitive action, but at the time of this posting, the federal government’s Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights is still considering Bill C-332 to amend the criminal code with regard to coercive control.
From the BC SPCA:
This is a time-sensitive request! The federal government’s Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights is currently considering Bill C-332 to amend the Criminal Code with regard to coercive control.
Coercive control is a pattern of behaviours intended to isolate, humiliate, exploit or dominate a person. These behaviours can extend beyond intimate partner and family violence, but that is where they are most often seen.
We are grateful that Bill C-332 seeks to criminalize coercive and controlling behaviour; however, it does not explicitly mention animals being used as tools of coercive control in its initial draft.
Please join the BC SPCA and our partners at Humane Canada as we call on the federal government to recognize that the love a victim has for their pet can be used to control them. Perpetrators commonly use threats of violence against an animal, actual violence to an animal and withholding food or veterinary care to force their victims to stay silent, submit to further abuse, prevent them from leaving or force them to return to an unsafe home.
Victims of intimate partner and family violence and the pets they love need your support, and government needs to criminalize using animals as tools of coercive control.
Please sign the pre-written letter to your MP and the members of The Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
14. Don’t Let the U.S. Government Shoot 500,000 Barred Owls in Massive Cull
The U.S. government is proposing a plan to shoot 500,000 barred owls dead as part of a massive cull in the Pacific Northwest.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is suggesting this horrible cull in order to restore balance between barred owls and northern spotted owls in Washington, Oregon, and California. In order to carry out the plan, it would grant landowners or land managers permits to shoot or otherwise euthanize the animals.
Sign the petition to urge the U.S. government to consider alternative options now!
The reason behind this proposed slaughter is that, sadly, northern spotted owls and barred owls seem to be in competition for territory, food, and nesting. While barred owls’ numbers have been increasing, spotted owls’ populations are in decline.
But surely there must be other options besides shooting innocent wildlife in cold blood. These owls are just doing what they evolved to do: survive. They’re not evil, or malicious, or aware of the ecological balance issues. So why should they be slaughtered?
One expert, biologist and ecological consultant Jared Hobbs, emphasized that the government must also take stronger steps to protect spotted owls’ habitats. Specifically, authorities must increase regulation of logging and forest destruction.
Sign the petition to demand the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service find another way to restore balance in the owl ecosystem, other than massacring half a million barred owls! It must implement stronger habitat protections now!
15. New Action & Update: Piglets Used in Military Training
We are pleased to pass on the update and call to action below from Animal Alliance of Canada whose campaign against the cruel use of live piglets in Canada’s military training has entered a new phase.
From Animal Alliance of Canada:
I am writing to you with an update on our “Defenceless” campaign, calling on the Minister of National Defence to bring an end to the Department of National Defence (DND)’s use of live piglets in military medical training. This training involves poisoning piglets with chemical weapons, exposing them to radiation, stabbing, maiming and, finally, killing them – all to provide Canadian medics with training that could be better achieved by using human patient simulators, as do more than 70% of other NATO nations.
On Monday, November 6th, NDP Defence Critic Lindsay Mathyssen presented our e-petition in the House of Commons. We are so grateful to MP Mathyssen for sponsoring and presenting this petition. The government has 45 calendar days from November 6th to provide its response. Of course, we’ll share that with you as soon as it’s released.
Now, we’re moving onto the next phase of our campaign, which involves you. Please write your own Member of Parliament (MP) and ask them to urge the Minister of National Defence to end the DND’s use of animals in military medical training. Most of Canada’s NATO allies have moved on from archaic and ineffective methods. Minister Blair needs to explain Canada’s continued use of substandard teaching models to train our soldiers, at taxpayers’ expense.
We’ve created a pre-written letter you can use by clicking ‘Email Your MP Today’ below. Just fill in your postal code and your letter will be sent to your MP.
Please note that your own personal letter could have even more impact. If you have the time, please consider drafting your own letter to your MP. Here are some possibly persuasive talking points:
• Over the past 10 years, more than 1,800 piglets have been exposed to toxic nerve agents, radiation and severe trauma for military medical training.
• Inadequately sedated piglets have revived during military trauma training, including one piglet “vocalizing loudly” and another “attempting to jump off the table”, according to the DND’s own records.
• The DND’s Animal Care Committee, which is responsible for ensuring the piglets do not suffer, knew piglets were reviving, yet concealed the information by altering documents.
• The DND acknowledges that using pigs may interfere with effective training by producing “training scars” (for instance, in trainees who learn how to correctly position a breathing tube in a pig, but which would constitute incorrect placement in a human).
• The continued use of piglets for military medical training puts Canadian soldiers’ lives at risk by employing obsolete teaching methods and inapplicable animal models.
• Over 70% of NATO nations no longer use animals for military medical training, having replaced them with more advanced, human-relevant human patient simulators.
• Studies have found that human patient simulators, which accurately mimic human anatomy and physiology, are more applicable and cost-effective training tools for military medical training.
• According to an Abacus poll commissioned by the Animal Alliance of Canada Fund in January 2023, fewer than 1 in 10 Canadians support the use of piglets for military medical training.
Please contact your MP today to demand an end to the use of animals in military medical training. And, of course, please share with us any responses you receive!
Thank you for speaking up for piglets.
16. Protect Wildlife Habitat: Stop the Destruction of Lemay Forest by Tochal Developments
One of our supporters reached out to us asking us to share this important and time sensitive petition. Few “forests”/natural habitats are left in the area of St. Norbert. Please help protect this one that is under threat from development.
For seven years, Tochal Developments has held control over a +22 acre greenfield and forested area adjacent to the southwest shores of the Red River. This land, located east of 35 De La Digue Avenue, west of 100 Villa Maria Place, and north of the homes at 819 – 915 Lemay Avenue is a vital part of our community in St. Norbert. The proposed development threatens to destroy Lemay Forest, an irreplaceable natural habitat that contributes significantly to our local biodiversity.
17. Take Action: Save the Sidney Island Deer
We are passing on this important action alert information from The Animal Alliance of Canada. We modified the original note slightly and added the petition previously posted about on this issue. For additional actions, information, and other resources please also visit our friends at Towards Freedom by clicking here.
You may have already heard that Parks Canada is planning a massive cull of all the deer on Sidney Island, BC. Sidney Island is located just off Vancouver Island.
The plan involves sharp shooters killing deer from helicopters and hunters and dogs on the ground shooting both wounded deer and healthy deer. Parks Canada’s plan is to eliminate ALL deer from the island.
You can visit the Sidney Island Deer Management Society website for more information: https://sidmsociety.com/
There are three actions you can take to help:
1) Contact George Heyman, BC Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. The Minister can be emailed at ENV.Minister@gov.bc.ca. Ask him not to issue Parks Canada the kill permits they are requesting.
2) Contact the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, the federal Minister responsible for Parks Canada and their actions. The Minister can be contacted at Steven.Guilbeault@parl.gc.ca or 613-992-6779. Ask him to direct Parks Canada to use only non-lethal methods to manage the park on Sidney Island.
There is also a petition:
18. Support the Replacement of Fireworks with Light Displays and Make a Difference to Animals, Birds, the Environment and Others
Fireworks are a danger to the well-being of animals, including pets, farm animals, birds, and wildlife. Further they are a danger to vulnerable populations, including those suffering from PTSD, especially some veterans. They are a danger to the environment because they release dangerous toxic chemicals. And they are not cost effective.
Spectacular laser light displays and drone shows are a kinder, more exciting, and cost effective means of celebrating special events. Special thanks to Towards Freedom for their work on this issue.
For more information, action ideas and whom to contact, please click on the image below:
19. Take Action Against Monkeys Chained & Whipped for Coconut Milk
From PETA:
Whole Foods is supporting the abuse of monkeys who are chained, whipped, and forced to pick coconuts as long as it sells Thai coconut milk.
PETA Asia’s latest investigation into Thailand’s coconut industry has revealed that despite false claims by the Thai government and makers of coconut products, wild baby monkeys are still being kidnapped—many illegally—before being chained, whipped, and forced to spend long hours picking heavy coconuts. They can incur broken bones from harsh handling and get stung by hornets, which can be fatal. When they aren’t working, they’re kept in small cages or tethered on barren patches of dirt, often without food, water, or protection from the elements.
Whole Food’s 365 brand sources the coconuts in its coconut milk from Thailand, and one of its coconut milk suppliers was implicated in PETA Asia’s latest investigation into the trade. PETA has contacted Whole Foods, but the company has refused to stop selling Thai coconut milk via its 365 brand and third-party brands even though it already offers canned coconut milk from countries where monkey labor isn’t used.
Take a look at the latest investigation, then send an urgent message to Whole Foods urging it to stop selling Thai coconut milk—that’s the only way to end this cruelty.
20. Protect the Orcas’ Ocean Homes: Let’s Make Tertiary Sewage Treatment the Law
Please take a moment to sign the petition from Lifeforce to protect orcas who are facing extinction and living in increasingly polluted waters.
While we are trying to find ways to protect people and animals from the Covid-19 pandemic we can and must also control all environmental pollution! One of the ways to achieve a healthier world is government funding of the most effective Tertiary Sewage Treatment! We must protect the health of wildlife and people!
Orcas are facing extinction! Pollution is one of the three major threats to the Southern Resident Killer Whales! They have lived and died for decades in increasingly polluted waters!
In order to protect people, animals and ecosystems money must be spent now for the best available technology. Many governments are planning to upgrade aging sewer treatment systems to only Secondary Treatment. If they do, households and industries will continue polluting land and water habitats. Implementing the present most effective Tertiary Treatment can’t wait for another 10 to 30 years with the increasing human population wastes, future increased costs and more pollution related health care costs!
Thank you for all you do!