2013-05-19T14:27:24-04:00 Barbara Cartwright http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/author/index.php?author=barbara-cartwright Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Barbara Cartwright Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2338629 2012-12-31T12:26:41-05:00 2013-03-02T05:12:02-05:00

Barbara Cartwright http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-cartwright/ cats who are angst ridden , cats who like boxes, cats who are political, and cats who are grumpy. With all of this attention on cats, one might assume that cats in Canada would have it pretty good. However, as much as we "enjoy" cats, we just care don't care for them in the same way that we care for dogs.

The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS) launched a ground-breaking report "Cats in Canada -- A Comprehensive Report on the Cat Overpopulation Crisis" this week to help us understand the negative consequences of cat overpopulation including homelessness, overburdened shelters, and euthanasia. We found that shelters across the country are dangerously over or at capacity to care for cats and their resources are strained. In fact twice as many cats are surrendered to shelters than dogs! Meanwhile, shelters are doing everything they can to provide space for all of the unwanted, undesirable and abandoned cats. However, as soon as a space is vacated it is filled by another cat, or a pregnant cat about to give birth. The number of cats who need homes outstrips the number of homes that are available -- and the cat population growth rate is accelerating. If large-scale, targeted action is not taken, this cat overpopulation problem will only worsen.

The research shows the ways in which Canadians care differently for cats than for dogs. Cats are less likely than dogs to receive veterinary care, to have permanent identification, to be adopted to a new family if lost or abandoned, or to be reunited with their owner. In fact less than 1 per cent of cats brought into shelters are reunited with their owners compared to 30 per cent of dogs. The most tragic statistic is that less than half of cats admitted to shelters will find their forever home. If we could channel our love and enjoyment of cats into responsible guardianship of them, we wouldn't have an overpopulation problem.

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The most viable long-term solution to end cat overpopulation is spaying and neutering of cats. If cats were routinely sterilized shelters wouldn't need to euthanize animals. It's really that simple. Responses to the National Market survey of Canadians found that at least 20 per cent of Canadians still aren't spaying and neutering their animals. Considering that there are 10.2-million owned cats in Canada that means that there more than 2-million owned cats that are unaltered across the country! And when you realize that cats can have two to three litters a years with five to six kittens per litter, this is an enormous number of unwanted animals.

Imagine if everyone chose the adoption option? Cats would not be languishing in shelters, becoming ill from the stress of overcrowding. When doing the research we found that Canadians are more likely to acquire a "free" cat from a friend, relative, as a give-away, from their own pet's offspring or take in a stray than they are to adopt a cat from a humane society, SPCA or a rescue group. Of course many of these "free" animals are available because people aren't spaying and neutering in the first place. One way that the CFHS is helping to get more cats into homes by being a proud supporter of the IAMS Home 4 the Holidays program which seeking to help animals in shelters find forever homes over the holidays.

Sterilizing and adopting are two simple solutions that everyone can choose. In the grander scheme there is no single stakeholder or group responsible for the cat overpopulation problem, or finding the solution -- it is truly a community problem that requires a community effort to resolve. To end cat overpopulation the CFHS has identified many things that need to happen including more accessible and affordable spay/neuter surgeries, greater education about the plight of cats, adequate support for strategies that require enforcement (such as by-laws) and that overall, owners must take more responsibility for their pets.

In the Cats in Canada report you can read about some of the innovative initiatives that groups from across the country are doing to change shelter management, raise awareness, increase spay/neuter rates and help cats. There may be a solution that will work in your community.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2197916 2012-11-27T12:29:55-05:00 2013-01-27T05:12:01-05:00

Barbara Cartwright http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-cartwright/ three years' probation for inhumanely slaughtering dogs by gunshots, stabbing and throat slitting as the dogs became uneconomical after the 2010 Olympic tourist trade tapered off in Whistler Village.

The facts in the case are not in dispute -- they came to light when Fawcett filed a worker's compensation claim for post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from the two day slaughter. The British Columbia SPCA worked tirelessly to provide what could now be called the industry standard in animal cruelty investigation. They pieced together the evidence of the crimes committed, engaged international experts in forensics, exhumed bodies and maintained a chain of custody (notably without the assistance of the RCMP at the crime site).

The quarter million dollar investigation, half raised by the BC SPCA and funded only in part by the Government of British Columbia, involved top pathologists, archaeologists and anthropologists who recovered 56 corpses and provided evidence that nine of them had endured prolonged suffering.

Despite the evidence the light sentencing Mr. Fawcett received last Thursday clearly ignores the aforementioned principal of proportionality. The sad thing is that the courts had the tools to adequately sentence Mr. Fawcett; B.C. has some of the best provincial legislation in the country where the maximum sentence that can be levied for causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal is five years' imprisonment and a maximum fine of $75,000.

Instead, the judge's decision seems to have been weighted in favour of Mr. Fawcett's suffering. Since he perpetrated this heinous act his mental health has been poor and he has nightmares. Those are consequences of a heinous act, an act that he chose to undertake. When faced with the decision of what to do with the sled dogs that were no longer wanted, he didn't call the B.C. SPCA or a rescue group, he didn't seek out a veterinarian that could humanely euthanize the animals, he didn't put out a plea to the Whistler or Vancouver community for help with the dogs, or to anyone else who could provide an alternative way out.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Fawcett's statement noted that the situation "spiralled out of control" over the two days during which he used a scoped rifle to finish off dogs that ran away after being shot incompetently and during which his methods ranged from "execution style," to stabbing, to throwing live dogs in a mass grave. He even chose to inhumanely kill the mother of his own pet dog.

If the court and the B.C. Crown Attorney's Office believe that three years' probation is a proportional and adequate sentence for a two day bloodbath which took place in front of the other dogs who were about to die, this is the latest in a long line of cases in which the government and the courts do not take animal cruelty seriously.

It provides further evidence that the court system fails the people of British Columbia and the people of Canada who expect more from government. It has failed at least nine dogs, probably many more, who suffered needlessly. Those who care about animals and about living in a humane society agree that those who commit heinous acts of animal cruelty should be appropriately and proportionately punished.

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Barbara Cartwright http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-cartwright/ charged Maple Lodge Farms, Canada largest independent chicken processor, with 60 criminal charges for violations of federal animal health regulations after thousands of chickens in different shipments were found "dead on arrival" at slaughterhouses. The birds were both "broiler" chickens, which are raised for consumption, and "spent" hens.

In an industry that favours vague terminology a "spent" hen is a surprisingly appropriately descriptive term. Spent hens have laid eggs continually for their relatively short lives of 1.5 - 2 years and have used up their "usefulness." Because of the impact of producing so many eggs for human consumption, their bones are brittle and they have lost many of their feathers, making their transport to slaughter for low-quality meat particularly grueling.

The poultry industry will tell you that they are well regulated and operate with the highest consideration for animal welfare. In the media Maple Lodge Farms has maintained their innocence; however, this company is a repeat offender -- at the time the criminal charges were laid they had already amassed an astounding $120,600 in fines for previous violations.

In Canada 600 million chickens are killed every year. Laying hens spend their entire lives in a cage, with as much space as one magazine page, unable to open and spread their wings, easily preen their feathers or experience natural light. Due to their lack of exercise their bones become weak and many break their wings or legs when pulled from their cages at the end of their laying cycle -- when they are "spent." A hen in a factory farm lays a staggered 320 eggs per year. Meat chickens are selectively bred to grow to adult size by the time they are merely six weeks old. They are raised in a nearly continuous light cycle and frequently suffer from leg disorders, heart failure and painful skin conditions.

This is definitely not your Grandmother's farm.

The methods described above are regarded as acceptable industry practices. So what and who regulates the farming industry? In transport and slaughter, federal regulations exist but are outdated by international standards. The CFIA is responsible for their enforcement but must do so without the resources to apply a truly rigorous enforcement system that would assure the public of industry-wide compliance.

On farms themselves, acceptable practices are determined by Canada's Codes of Practice which set national standards for farm animal care and serve as reference documents for the enforcement of animal cruelty law. The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS) sits at the Codes table as the only animal welfare group and works from within to try and improve the lives of the 700 million animals raised for food each year. Sadly, change has come at slow pace for food animals in Canada, with little in the way of improvements to animal welfare adopted into the old recommended Codes that were developed in the 1980s and 90s. The new Codes process necessitates science-informed requirements for animal care and so holds some promise for improvements as can be seen in the 2009 Dairy Code, which outlawed tail docking and requires the use of pain relief when calves are dehorned or castrated.

Nonetheless, truly progressive change is still held back by industry reluctance to adopt costly reforms without seeing any premium from the consumer in return. This means the science demonstrating what animals really need is often put aside. In the case of laying hens, Canada's current Code of Practice (published in 2003) requires only 67 square inches of space per bird. This is only about half of what is required by new science-informed European regulations that come into effect this year (116 square inches per bird).

Under the European Council Directive traditional battery cages were phased out over 10 years and are now illegal (effective January 2012). They have been replaced either with larger "furnished" cages that provide some environmental enrichment or with cage-free barns. According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), approximately 50 per cent of eggs in the U.K. come from caged hens, whereas 90 per cent of eggs in Canada do. In Belgium, Austria, Sweden, and the Netherlands all cages are banned.

Change is in the air as consumer attitudes are shifting and the muscle of the consumer dollar is more powerful than ever. Consumers are investigating and questioning the source of their food and demanding not only local, artisan and organic foods, but more humane foods. Some consumers in western Canada are lucky enough to see SPCA Certified eggs and meat products in their grocer aisles. Loblaw (the largest grocer in Canada) has committed to selling only cage-free eggs for its President's Choice brand due to consumer demand. This is proof that animal welfare is on the cusp of being a main-stream food trend.

The CFHS believes that food animals deserve our respect on the farm, in transport and in slaughter. Every Canadian who is thinking about their food must decide what is ethically and morally acceptable to them. The Codes of Practice will be open for public later this year. To stay informed click here.
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Barbara Cartwright http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-cartwright/
Images of cute, wide-eyed puppies, dressed in ribbons and bows are danced before us during the holiday season, stirring strong emotions in even the most hard-hearted. Puppy mills thrive because the cuteness of puppies is easily matched by the impulsiveness of dog buyers. Getting a dog can be as easy as the click of a mouse, a moment of weakness at the pet store, or a snap phone call in response to a classified ad. But uninformed decisions are a quick path to heartache, expense, and guilt, when your dog shows the health or behavioural problems that often come with mass breeding.

The realities of puppy mills are emaciated, feces-covered dogs suffering from the cruelty inherent in these operations. In Quebec, the 607 dogs (90 of which were born after their pregnant mothers were rescued) from the Clarendon puppy mill are finding loving forever homes, however, as I write this, thousands of dogs continue to suffer in puppy mills.

The puppy mill problem has multiple facets: unscrupulous breeders looking to make a profit through mass breeding; laws that are difficult to enforce; and animal protection agencies that lack the resources required to investigate complaints (humane societies and SPCAs receive no government funding), to name a few. Don't get caught in the puppy mill web.

Ending puppy mills is easy. Simply put, puppy mills, or any unethical business for that matter, depend upon one thing -- demand. End the demand by not buying dogs online, never buying a dog from any individual who refuses to let you see where the dog was raised, and avoid buying dogs from a pet store (with the exception of pet stores that have animals from a local shelter).

Currently several places, including Richmond, B.C. and Toronto, are choosing to ban the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores unless they are sourced from a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), humane society or rescue group.

End puppy mills by adopting a dog from a humane society, SPCA, or reputable rescue group. These organizations test their dogs for temperament and will help match the right dog to the right family. They can tell if the dog you think you want loves children, hates cats, has lots of energy or prefers to cuddle on the couch. These organizations also have specific breeds, if that's what your heart is set on, or they can direct you to a breed rescue group.

As part of the adoption price, dogs are usually spayed or neutered, microchipped or tattooed, vaccinated, and given a full check-up by a veterinarian. This makes adoption by far the best value for your money.

Most important, adopting a dog means you are saving a life. There is a huge pet overpopulation problem, with as many as a quarter million cats and dogs ending up in Canadian shelters each year. Nearly half are euthanized. Imagine if people stopped buying dogs from puppy mills and chose the adoption option. During the holiday season the Canadian Federation of Human Societies (CFHS) teams up with pet food brand Iams to promote animal adoption.

Dogs are loving creatures. They are our best friends. Those of us who share our lives with a dog know all about their loyalty, intelligence, and playfulness. We know how much their all-too-short time with us enriches our lives.

Dogs are for life -- they are not disposable products. It's time for the public to eliminate the cruel mass breeding industry. Think carefully, choose wisely. and love deeply; stop supporting puppy mills.

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