Charges relating to animal cruelty and neglect in our province carry more weight and power with passage of amendments to the Ontario SPCA Act in the Legislature.
The new Provincial Animal Welfare Act contains the first updates to the SPCA legislation in 90 years.
Ontario SPCA Spokesperson Kristen Williams Tells Bayshore Broadcasting News the legislation gives SPCA and animal welfare officers have much more latitude in laying charges.
Williams says offences like not providing suitable and adequate care and provisions for life are covered by the Act.
Williams says the legislation includes new provincial animal abuse offences which makes the Act the toughest in the country.
Williams says penalites under the Provincial Animal Welfare Act are much heavier than before the legislation was introduced last spring.
She says you can be fined a maximum of 60-thousand dollars and sentenced to at least two years in jail.
There’s also a potential lifetime ban on animal ownership by convicted offenders.
Williams says bringing the law completely under provincial jurisdiction is an improvement.
Williams says SPCAs had to use the Criminal Code of Canada in the past because it provided the best framework for laying charges.
She says the provincial Animal Welfare Act will help local SPCAs more quickly take care of animals in distress.
Williams says SPCA officers will spend the next few months becoming familiar with the legislation and what it allows them to do.
SPCA personnel work with OPP and municipal police services when raiding sites where suspected animal abuse takes place.