Dear Member of Parliament,

I am writing to urge you to support Bill C-373, a private member’s bill introduced on
October 30th, 2006  by Ajax-Pickering MP Mark Holland.

As you may know, the current animal cruelty provisions in the Criminal Code do not
adequately address severe instances of animal cruelty and abuse. The law is nearly
115 years old, and reflects the values of a bygone era. The current laws don’t
properly protect wild or stray animals. Penalties are laughable, and are completely
ineffective as a deterrent for these crimes.

Bill C-373 strikes an excellent balance between protection of animals and protection of
lawful activities such as fishing, hunting, trapping, farming and scientific research.
Among other changes, Bill C-373 will extend equal protection to owned and unowned
animals (including strays and wildlife); will remove animal cruelty crimes from the
property section of the Criminal Code, and will make it easier to prosecute those who
neglect their animals to the extreme.

Bill C-373 is identical to the various bills on this issue that have been introduced in the
House of Commons over the last seven years. A previous version of Bill C-373 – C-
10B – came excruciatingly close to becoming law in 2003 and was supported by the
vast majority of Canadians, most animal industry groups, animal protection groups as
well as all parties in the House but was held up by the Senate and then died due to the
election.

By urging you to support Bill C-373, I am also urging you NOT to support Bill S-213, a
private bill to amend the animal cruelty provisions of the Criminal Code introduced in
the Senate by Senator John Bryden.

Bill S-213 is wholly inadequate. While it does increase penalties, it makes no changes
to the current offences: it does not close the gaping holes in the current legislation,
and will continue to allow animal abusers to go unpunished.

Sincerely,