The four mayoral candidates are being asked what they will do to improve animal welfare and services if elected this weekend in the Montreal municipal elections.
The SPCA is asking what they will do to ensure access to harmonized, humane, responsible, and effective animal care and control services in the 19 boroughs, to ensure that live animals sold in pet stores do not come from puppy and kitten mills, and that pet stores do not contribute to the companion animal overpopulation problem. The SPCA is also requesting bylaws such as those adopted in Toronto that require pet stores to work with local rescue groups and shelters.
ASAP (Action pour un service animalier publique), a community group dedicated to reforming animal welfare policy, asked the mayoral candidates to honour the city’s commitment to build an animal centre and tackle the animal overpopulation problem ethically and compassionately, instead of resorting “to the mass killing of stray and abandoned companion animals at taxpayers’ expense.”
Projet Montréal and Coalition Montréal now both have a policy, while Équipe Mélanie Joly confirmed a commitment to the new animal centre while entertaining the possibility of stricter regulation of companion animal sales.
The Projet Montréal platform
As of Oct. 15, said ASAP, Projet Montréal was the only party that had made animal welfare part of its official program, including a commitment to the new animal centre.
Party leader Richard Bergeron is against cruel and inefficient trap/euthanize methods, and is committed to providing a durable, ethical and responsible animal control service and a sterilization clinic.
Projet Montréal wants to promote responsible behaviour toward animals by implementing bylaws containing neutering and microchip identification clauses.
They will propose and support bylaws making neutering compulsory for dogs, cats and rabbits sold in stores or up for adoption, and bylaws on public safety and dog-bite prevention regardless of the animal’s breed or appearance.
They also want to improve the welfare of calèche horses through shelter and safety norms.
The Coalition Montréal platform
On Oct. 28, Coalition chief Marcel Côté embraced ASAP’s propositions. “More than 40% of Montrealers own at least a cat or a dog, and about 50,000 cats and dogs are abandoned every year on the Montreal island,” asserts the news release.
If elected, Côté proposes to fight overpopulation of animals and pet abandonment through an animal control policy that would make owners responsible for their animal companions.
His policy would focus on prevention methods such as neutering, adoption and animal identification. The boroughs would have to adopt the best practices and provide adequate financing for existing animal control programs.
He supports the public animal service facility to open in Angrignon Park in 2016, which will include an adoption service and animal shelter accessible to all Montrealers. Côté promises to finance TNRM (Trap-Neuter-Release-and-Maintain) programs for stray cats and allow mobile sterilization clinics start-ups to reduce the costs of the program. As well, he says boroughs should be allowed to deliver permits at a lower cost for neutered animals. Neutering will be compulsory, as well as the inoculation of all cats and dogs sold on the territory.
Coalition Montréal also wants to put an end to animal suffering and pet overpopulation driven by the for-profit industry by working with shelters and pet stores in collaboration with the boroughs. The sale of animals should be regulated so that animals sold in pet stores come from animal shelters approved by the City, not kitten or puppy mills. Pet stores will also be encouraged to offer a 30-day health guarantee, as shelters already do, so that pet owners can return adopted animals if
they become sick. The government through the SPCA will have the authority to carry out inspections in pet stores.
