The Ontario government passed an amendment to the OSPCA Act last month. The change was relatively small: it authorized the Solicitor General to appoint a new chief inspector of the OSPCA, since the OSPCA has declined to do so as it said it was stepping away from doing investigations.
It was back in January that the Superior Court of Justice ruled the OSPCA Act to be unconstitutional and gave the province a year to fix it. The province has appealed that ruling.
In the meantime, the OSPCA has positioned itself to work in support of whatever agency takes up the task of enforcing animal rights laws in Ontario. According to an OSPCA news release, that support includes forming a task force with the Humane Society to propose legislation for “providing for the protection of pets and farm animals and establishing their status as sentient beings under the law.”
The OSPCA stated that: “The task force is reviewing the need for animals to be recognized under law as sentient beings to acknowledge their ability to feel, to have subjective experiences and to be treated accordingly, rather than as property.”
