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The sitting PC government stated, at the time Bill 50 (the OSPCA Act) was introduced in Queen’s Park that they needed a “legal opinion” well now they have one and they are still continuing with this attack on the people through this appeal…shame, shame, shame…
Is this the favouritism we are seeing with the Trudeau Liberals with SNC? These are questions we should all be asking…
Mr. John Yakabuski: “I do want to touch on the comments of the member from Dufferin–Caledon, who’s very concerned about the section 8 issue in the charter with regard to warrantless entry. In a society such as ours, when you grant any party, regardless of your motives—When you attach and grant any party the rights to warrantless entry, boy, that crosses some pretty strong lines here with respect to people’s rights and the right not to be unnecessarily detained— ”
The PCs are appealing with absolutely no reason to appeal…
I hope many will contribute to this, and future, challenges. This is the only way the people seem to be able to stop the assault on them and their Constitutional rights! Thank you for all you are doing!!!
You have missed one really important part. Section 91.27 of rhe constitution states police power is federal jurisdiction under the criminal code. Sections 444 to 447 in the Criminal Code of Canada are animal protection laws, proving its not provincial jurisdiction. It also states in section 91.27 any laws made outside of… are illegal 🙂 Best of luck!!!
Hello i have very big problem of all my 33 dogs were taken from the house OSPCA now they are on addreses 16589 Woodbine Ave Whtchurch-Stouffule tell 289 383 6919 badge 1726 for medical examination and storage invoiced $18000 this it is very expensive that i could not pay for for my dogs stayed with them. OSPCA hired hourly private investigator who played the role of a thief in a mask and gloves. Yesterday he was with them recognized his physique and gait.He was in the morning 10-11 am Friday 28 April in mask and big gloves with a cage in his hands i call to police In 12:00 am again came OSPCA forcing themselves to my home again and forced me to see Vet showing baby puppy and vaccinated..Same day i go to Vet with 4 puppies..,They was healthy. i get vaccination and i came at home. the big glass door to the yard was broken and 3 dogs were stolen. https://www.gofundme.com/defending-against-ospca
Hello Vince – Sorry to hear your story. Your experience and ones similar to this are the reasons why the Ontario Landowners Association challenged the OSPCA Act in Superior Court on May 16, 2018. Among other issues, there is no oversight of this organization and they have police powers that are very difficult to challenge because of the lack of oversight. Our hope is that, if we are successful in our challenge, there will be positive changes to the Act to prevent arbitrary confiscation of animals by a charitable organization. Shirley Dolan, OLA
Good Luck Jeff and Kurtis. It is about time OSPCA is knocked off their pedestal. RAAW will be very interested to see the results of this case. This week is the anniversary for the killing of 102 animals at their Newmarket shelter for a “virulent case of ringworm” which never existed. The same decision makers are still in their position or have been promoted. It’s all the same old, same old. They need to be stopped.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9JKwmY1U9U
You have worked on this case for years yet when you are finally coming to a conclusion, Animal Justice sticks their nose in your business and files to be intervenor. Watch your back. They do this with any case getting media attention. Seems to me Animal Justice only shows up after all the work is done, takes credit for it and watch their donations rise.
Exactly what I have been noticing with how Animal Justice operates!
I’d rather see the OSPCA dismantled than “fixed”, with animal cruelty investigations going to an adequately trained government agency. On a separate note, I hope people are aware that several OSPCA employees are on the Sunshine list earning about 1.5 million, in case you were wondering what your donation money was being used for.
*Visit http://www.sunshinelist.ca/ and search for –> ontario society for the prevention of cruelty to animals
Hi Folks…I know it has taken a long time to get this case through the courts…the government does not
want this case to be heard…they are afraid we may win and thus they would need to change the OSPCA
act to make it legal,but I would like to remind people of the difference that we have made already , just by challenging this Act…befor we did this action my phone was always ringing with some unfortunate
animal owner on the other end looking for help….the Landowner Magazine was full of sad stories of people being abused by the OSPCA….those stories have dropped to the point that we hardly get a call
anymore ….if we win, then there should be a chance for this act to be rewritten with the protection
included to stop the abuse of people by over exuberant enforcement officers ….please if you can…help us to finish the job….please donate today if you think it is a good cause… Tom Black
It seems like the OSPCA is no longer concerned about the welfare of animals who are being abused. They have also become vigilantes, (such as seizing all the animals from an animal rescue couple in North Bay, and causing the couple serious stress and financial problems). Lawyers involved in the lawsuit should be acting ‘pro bono’, if they seriously care about changing the laws to protect the animals. JMO of course.
My apologies for the delay in posting your comment. Due to some admin changes on the website, I missed your post. This has been corrected.
I came across your website via a link from the OLA. I started reading with extreme interest. All of these points of concern listed on your site against the OSPCA, are the same concerns I have with the Family and Child Services Act (FCSA). In both cases, anonymous allegations, without verification, can lead to some level of enforcement/removal by an unaccountable “private” organization. At first glance, it was almost as is the OSPCA was modeled on the same structure as the CAS. I will donate to your cause, it has struck a nerve. I have not used my real name, out of fear of reprisals. Regards.
James – Thanks for your support. It may interest you to know that the OSPCA was founded in 1873 to protect both animals and children.
Thanks again.
Shirley Dolan
OLA Governor
It is hardly a surprise that you have seen similarities in how the OSPCA operates and how the Ontario CAS functions; and it is hardly a coincidence but rather an example of the continuing failed policies and resistance to reform exhibited by both agencies; and it’s often the same individual Ministers (who change portfolios regularly) who are at the head of all the dysfunction; we are talking about a government that just doesn’t get it and cares even less(whether its our children, elderly or animals for that matter)because for them its all about maintaining autocratic control and never being held accountable…no matter what the cost; ultimately we can thank those equally self-indulgent and morally bankrupt Ontario voters who have accepted CORRUPTION and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS as the status-quo as long as they are promised their “rewards” for voting these dysfunctional politicos into power.
A private and unaccountable police force, the OSPCA. The definition of an animal in distress is so vague in the enabling legislation that the OSPCA has been able to define it as they see fit without any consequences. Different livestock groups now signing memorandums of understanding with the OSPCA to suit their own needs.
This sounds like some Banana Republic to me, unbelievably this is happening right here in Ontario, Canada. A private organization is determining what the law is, other private groups are negotiating deals with that organization to apply that law differently to them, this is anarchy and a breakdown of the Rule of Law. Our elected officials refuse to do anything about it, most of them did not even show up to vote on a Bill that would have corrected the lawlessness and shamelessly defeated the Bill. This does not a proud Canadian make.
If this OSPCA Act application does not find an unaccountable, self regulating, private police force unconstitutional, the true north strong and free is in serious trouble.
Everyone owning an animal or not has to support and stand behind this application and do what is right.
Very well stated and the root of the problem has well been known; and that is it should not be surprising that if you have such an autocratic and dysfunctional government as Ontario does, then it follows that its agencies and organizations will exhibit the same dysfunction; power and control and lack of accountability at any cost have become the standard way of doing business by the Ontario government;and it is anarchy and the breakdown of the Rule Of Law but the worst of it is that it has been accepted into much of the public psyche as attested by those segments of Ontario voters who support this failed leadership and believe in its propaganda.
We love animals as much as anyone and more than most and have zero tolerance for cruelty to them. However, as someone who has personally experienced abuse at the hands of overzealous SPCA officials, it is about time that someone asked the question: “Who protects people from the SPCA?” We refer to them as “goons with guns.”
We have a documented case of being forced to put five horses down because they were temporarily down in weight due to a problem with sulphur in our water. We explained the problerm to them, showed them the measures that we had and were taking to address the problem, and provided extensive documentation that we were correct. They didn’t care about any of it and called us liars while at the same time, demonstrating their ignorance of horses.
We couldn’t move the horses from the property and we had only five days to rectify the problem (a blatant impossibility). It was OK, however, if we killed the horses – a peverted logic that entirely escapes me. We did this, at considerable emotional cost and financial loss, to protect the rest of the herd and our investment from the SPCA as well as avoiding the media circus that they so love to generate to help them with contributions.
When I appealed the action, the judge didn’t care about our loss and the SPCA officials were only interested in disavowing themselves from the damage that they had done. The appeal process was utterly worthless.
A few weeks latter, all the horses that remained had regained weight and are perfectly healthy today. Those five horses DID NOT HAVE TO DIE.
We have a similar situation here. 4 horses underweight due to drought conditions and the fact that no-one was selling hay. 30 acres of hay cut and ready to bale the next day on the field. But somehow those 4 skinny horses meant that a vet needed to come out and evaluate all 16 horses and multiple other animals on the farm. None of the other animals were in poor condition. All explanations regarding our current care regime, veterinary recommendations on the specific horses, and plans forward were ignored. Now we are at the first stages of fighting the unreasonable order…
Can I ask the name of the Inspector?
Finally someone willing to stand up to this organization. Kurtis Andrews is right on with his assessment. When a non-government organization has more power than the police the system is broken. I hope he is successful in his efforts to change the law. Everyone needs to support this man in his efforts to correct this terrible law.
Current legislation mandates, empowers and protects the Ontario SPCA. Funding, accountability, transparency and oversight remain unaddressed. In 2010 the government publicly acknowledged its inability to intervene in matters OSPCA. This in the face of undisputed evidence of OSPCA wrong doing, of lives irrevocably altered and animals subjected to horrific distress, cruelty and/or death at the hands of the OSPCA. The legislation needs fixing!
Freedom of Information. (Salaries, out of court settlements, payments to fundraisers, deficit budgeting, directors’ OSPCA employment, franchising affiliates, suing members, etc.)
Operations (biosecurity, hygiene, sale of animals, sustained import of USA puppies, shelter inspections, etc.)
Investigations (evidence gathering & inspections, consulting owners and owners’ vets, nature of and number of orders, seized animals in exchange for money, perjury, threats, etc.)
The legislation will never be fixed as long as this autocratic and pathologically dysfunctional government remains in power; the fear is that because previous governments have also done very little in recognizing the problem that we might not get the fundamental changes needed even with a new government; none more so than the Lieberals but successive provincial governments have shown nothing less than disdain for those they purport to represent;once in power the game becomes staying in power at all costs and buying future votes by making promises to any and all “special interest” group out there; unfortunately,even after all this time, animal advocates remain marginalized and expendable as both a voice or voting bloc, partly due to their own lack of cohesiveness as well as due to Ontario politicians in general who, in the final analysis, really don’t care enough to make either animals and/or the people who care about them a priority.
My apologies for the delay in posting your comments. Due to some admin changes on the website, I missed your posts. This has been corrected and all of your posts have been posted.