ANIMAL DEFENCE LEAGUE OF CANADA P.O. Box 3880, Stn. C Ottawa, Ontario, K1Y 4M5 E-mail: [email protected]
HAVE YOU RENEWED YOUR MEMBERSHIP THIS YEAR? THANK YOU FOR SENDING YOUR MEMBERSHIP DUES AND DONATIONS.
ISSN #1204-6639 Tel: (613)233-6117 Bulletin #185 – SPRING/SUMMER 2015 ADLC Website: www.ncf.ca/animal-defence
ADLC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM) Will be held on Sunday, March 29, 2015, 1:30 pm (If the weather is bad, it will be held on Monday, March 30, 7:30 pm), basement meeting room at 170 Booth Street (corner of Albert Street, 1 block south of the LeBreton Flats Transit Station), Ottawa, Ontario. You can call us to confirm the date at 613-233-6117. Please be on time as the building is locked. Someone will be at the main front door to let you in, until the meeting begins.
MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND. If you hold a current membership card please bring it with you. Voting eligibility requires your membership fee to have been paid at least 6 months prior to the AGM date.
Election of Directors, approve 2014 AGM minutes and 2014 Financial Report, appoint a public accountant to audit our 2015 financial records and prepare our 2015 Financial Statements Report (and tax forms); and Committee Reports.
This meeting is open to the public. We look forward to seeing you.
FUR FARM ANIMAL CRUELTY EXPOSED IN THE MONTÉRÉGIE AREA, QUEBEC: November 25, 2014 we mailed the letter below to the following Government of Quebec Ministers: Stephanie Vallée, Ministère de la Justice; David Heurtel, Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques and Pierre Paradis, Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l ‘Alimentation:
We urge your government to take much stronger and swifter action in dealing with the massive animal cruelty uncovered at Jean-Luc Rodier's factory-fur farm south of Montreal.
Back in May, there were complaints about this farm, therefore the Montreal SPCA obtained a warrant to investigate. They found horrific scenes of animal neglect, filthy conditions, dehydration, broken limbs, etc. They asked the provincial government to step in, as wild animals (foxes/minks) fall under the jurisdiction of Quebec's Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks.
To everyone's surprise, no actions were taken until several months later (mid-July), when government inspectors went to the farm for the first time. Our organisation as well as the SPCA are disappointed by your government’s slow reaction (approximately 60 days later) in responding to this crisis. There was a second visit to the farm a short time later. Four foxes and one mink were euthanized, and 16 arctic foxes were removed. The ministry officials left the rest of the animals on the farm with inhumane staff.
The reason given by government officials for leaving the balance of the animals behind, was to give the owner a chance to correct the situation. That is disgraceful and unacceptable. To
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even think that Jean-Luc Rodier will change his behaviour towards animals in his custody, after facing over 260 previous charges of animal cruelty, is highly unlikely. You must show leadership, and remove all the animals from that abysmal factory-fur farm.
Jean-Luc Rodier has now been charged with 6 counts of neglect and animal cruelty. There are 2 counts of wilfully causing unnecessary pain and suffering, and 2 charges of the owner wilfully neglecting food, water, shelter and care. “’The SPCA went public with this case to show the shortcomings of the criminal code. All of these conditions – the overcrowding, the excrement, the smell of ammonia – are all legal in the fur business,’ Devine said [Alanna Devine, Montreal SPCA Director of Animal Advocacy].” (Source: Montreal Gazette Internet article, November 10, 2014, “Fur farmer charged with animal cruelty could be jailed, fined”)
The federal and provincial governments, as well as the courts, need to send a strong public message that animal cruelty is a very serious offence and will not be tolerated.
We await your response, and thank you for your attention to this matter.
QUEBEC FUR FARM ANIMAL CRUELTY UPDATE: January 5, 2015 Jean-Luc Rodier pleaded not guilty to six counts of animal cruelty and neglect. He is to be back in court on April 13, 2015. He could face up to 18 months in prison, fines of up to $10,000.00 for each offence, as well as a lifetime ban on having custody or control of an animal.
STOP CANADA’S EAST COAST COMMERCIAL SEAL SLAUGHTER: News Release from Humane Society International/Canada’s website: www.hsi.org/world/canada, (“No more subsidy”): “Norway Cancels Subsidies to Commercial Sealing Industry”, December 15, 2014: “The Norwegian government voted to end subsidies to the Norwegian commercial sealing industry … . Rebecca Aldworth, executive director of HSI/Canada, said: ‘Norway has always played a significant role in global commercial sealing. The government has heavily subsidized the slaughter of thousands of seals annually, while a Norwegian company has purchased and processed millions of seal skins from Canada in recent decades. This decision will save thousands of seals in Norway each year from a cruel slaughter. But just as importantly, it sends a very clear message to the Canadian government that even the staunchest supporters of commercial sealing are moving beyond this dying, inherently inhumane industry. …’
Facts: … Up to 80 percent of the income earned by Norwegian sealers came from government subsidies. In the past three years, a Norwegian owned seal processor in Canada, Carino Company Ltd., has received millions of dollars in financing from the Newfoundland government to allow the company to purchase seal skins. Humane Society International has never opposed the Inuit subsistence seal hunt. …” [ADLC also is NOT opposed to subsistence seal hunting.]
WHAT YOU CAN DO: You can electronically submit a protest letter to Prime Minister Harper, with a copy to the Canadian Privy Council by going to: www.hsi.org/world/canada, (Click on “No more subsidy”): “Norway Cancels Subsidies to Commercial Sealing Industry”, then click on “Help end the hunt for good! Call now for a federal buyout of Canada’s commercial sealing industry.”. Below is the Humane Society International/Canada form letter that HSI/Canada suggests you personalize so it stands out:
“I am writing to ask for your help in ending the Canadian commercial seal slaughter by implementing a federal buyout of sealing licenses.
Veterinarians say Canada’s commercial seal hunt is inherently inhumane because of the harsh, remote environment in which it occurs and the speed at which it must be conducted. Not surprisingly, each year, horrible suffering is documented during the slaughter. Conscious, wounded baby seals are left to suffer in agony and impaled on metal hooks, dragged across the ice and cut open. Seal pups that have been shot and injured escape into the water where they die slowly and are never recovered.
Global markets for seal products are closing fast. The United States, the 28‐nation European Union, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Mexico have all prohibited trade in products of commercial seal
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hunts. Today, the slaughter only continues because of government subsidies, despite the fact that the majority of Canadians, like most people around the world, want the seal hunt to end.
But now there is a solution to end the slaughter once and for all ‐‐ a federal sealing industry buyout. This plan involves the federal government ending the seal hunt, compensating fishermen for their sealing licenses and developing economic alternatives in the communities involved. This is exactly what Canada did to end commercial whaling in 1972, and today, whale watching is worth far more to our economy than whale hunting ever was. Notably, polling shows broad support amongst sealers for a sealing industry buyout, and economists say the plan would cost far less than the money needed to keep the hunt going.
Please help move Canada beyond commercial sealing by supporting a federal sealing industry buyout. Thank you.”
Please let your Member of Parliament and Senators know you support a legislated end to the commercial seal hunt. If you cannot electronically submit your letter, PLEASE WRITE TO: Prime Minister Harper, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A2; Fisheries and Oceans Minister, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6. For Members of Parliament/Senators names and contact information visit the Government of Canada website: www.canada.gc.ca (Links listed under “Our Governance”), or telephone 1-800-622-6232. No postage required when mailed in Canada (when Parliament is sitting).
ANIMAL TESTING FOR COSMETICS IS LEGAL IN CANADA: Epoch Times, Ottawa edition, December 5-11, 2014: “… [According to Troy Seidle, director of Humane Society International’s Research & Toxicology Department] ‘For a Canadian company, if they’re still involved in animal testing they’re already losing out on the world’s largest cosmetics market, which is the EU. So if you want to continue to sell there, or sell there in the future, the company does really need to kick its animal testing habits.’ … Further development of alternative testing methods that make it faster, cheaper, and more accurate than relying on animals will be a major factor in eliminating animal testing, says Seidle. Testing products on human skin donated from plastic surgery, for example, is one new method being used. …”
“CANADA, IT’S TIME TO BAN COSMETIC TESTING ON ANIMALS”: From Humane Society International/Canada’s website: www.hsi.org/world/canada, then click on “No to Cruelty”, then #BeCrueltyFree petition for their electronic protest letter that you can submit to Prime Minister Harper. We have reprinted their letter below:
“I am writing to urge your Government to introduce legislation prohibiting animal testing for cosmetics in Canada. Public opinion overwhelmingly favours such a ban, and the success of hundreds of cruelty‐free companies like LUSH and JASON is proof that animal testing isn’t necessary to produce safe, innovative, and profitable beauty and personal care products.
The European Union, Norway, Israel and India have already banned animal testing for cosmetics, and similar legislation is currently pending in the United States, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia and Taiwan.
The Humane Cosmetics Act aims to end animal testing for cosmetic products and their ingredients within the United States. Yet without the timely amendment of Canada’s Food and Drugs Act, our country could inadvertently become a cross‐border haven for cruel and needless animal testing that has been outlawed by our American neighbours.
Please help ensure that animals will not suffer an ugly fate in the name of beauty. I urge you not to miss this opportunity to score a win for animals, consumer safety, and Canada’s reputation. The world is watching. It’s time for Canada to be cruelty free.”
ADLC ADVERTISING: June 23, 2014, we placed a 104-word Planned Giving newspaper ad in The Ottawa Citizen’s Seniors Lifestyle Supplement. We placed a full page ad in the September 2014 FIFTY-FIVE PLUS magazine that was distributed in the Greater Toronto area, Ottawa, Ottawa Valley, Peterborough/Lindsay, Kingston/Quinte, reaching approximately 385,000 readers. This ad combined information on our
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Spay/Neuter Fund and our non-animal-using Alternative Research Fund. The same ad also appeared in the Winter 2014 Ottawa Family Living Magazine with a distribution of approximately 30,000. A full page ad was also placed in the Fall/Winter 2014 Seniors Activities & Services Directory which consisted of a combined 2/3 page advertorial and 1/3 page ad. The advertorial was about our Spay/Neuter Fund and non-animal-using Alternative Research Fund, while the 1/3 page ad was a general write-up about the ADLC. Ontario distribution area: Kanata, Arnprior, Carleton Place, Perth, Brockville, Gananoque and Kingston.
ADLC’S SPAY/NEUTER FUND AND ANIMALS IN DISTRESS FUND: ADLC does not subsidize cats/dogs with poor veterinarian’s prognosis – but we cover the cost of euthanasia in some cases. ADLC does not subsidize if there is no committed foster/permanent home or caretaker. From September to December 2014 we contributed towards the cost of 3 feral cat spays; 2 cat euthanasias (cat rescuer’s animals – one was feral); consultation fee for 1 sick shelter cat and treatment for a second shelter cat; 2 dogs’ medical treatment; cat food for a cat rescue shelter, and we sponsored one of Quagga Stray-Cat Rescue’s (Winnipeg, Manitoba) Feline Immune Deficiency Virus (FIV) cats plus a little extra towards their ongoing costs to care for abandoned cats. Without your support this financial assistance would not have been possible. We thank you.
OTTAWA SPAY/NEUTER DAY: Once again, we have requested Mayor Jim Watson declare Tuesday, February 24, 2015 “OTTAWA SPAY/NEUTER DAY”, and we are hopeful he will.
ADLC’S “NOT ENOUGH HOMES FOR CATS AND DOGS” ADS: We began placing our spay/neuter newspaper ads, sponsored and co-sponsored by ADLC members, in April 2014 and right through the summer.
HOW TO SPONSOR ONE OF ADLC’S SPAY/NEUTER ADS: Sponsoring requires a minimum $130 contribution. Co-sponsoring requires a minimum $65 contribution. Sponsor’s/co-sponsor’s name appears on the ad if desired. See membership/donation section at the bottom of page 7.
REMINDER TO SPAY/NEUTER: We placed two different spay/neuter newspaper ads in the Classified section of The Ottawa Citizen, in the “DOGS” column:
Ad #1 - November 1, 15 & 29, 2014 Ad #2 - December 13 and 20, 2014
SPAYING / NEUTERING Reduce cat and dog PREVENTS LITTERS homelessness. and reduces cat and dog PREVENT LITTERS BY homelessness. SPAYING / NEUTERING.
Animal Defence League Adopt rescue pets of Canada or from a shelter. PO Box 3880, Stn C Ottawa, Ontario, K1Y 4M5 Animal Defence League www.ncf.ca/animal-defence of Canada PO Box 3880, Stn C Ottawa, Ontario, K1Y 4M5 www.ncf.ca/animal-defence
“[INTER]NATIONAL FERAL CAT DAY - October 16, 2014”, heading of an ad we placed in local EMC weekly community newspapers in the Ottawa area on October 16, 2014: Kanata Kourier-Standard, Stittsville News, Nepean-Barrhaven News and West Carleton Review, in support of National Feral Cat Day, an initiative of Alley Cat Allies, Bethesda, MD.
CAT FOSTER HOMES NEEDED (OTTAWA AREA): CAT RESCUE NETWORK: Several feral colony caretakers and others who rescue homeless cats in the Ottawa area formed Cat Rescue Network. Foster and permanent homes are always needed. Also needed: outdoor cat shelters, outdoor runs and humane cage traps. If you have humane trapping experience or can transport cats to foster homes or veterinary appointments, please call 613‐ 820‐7088.
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ADLC’S WEBSITE: Our sincere thanks to Brenda Campbell of webhomesbydesign.com who spent a great deal of time redesigning and updating our National Capital FreeNet website. We invite you to check it out at: ncf.ca/animal-defence.