800 million animals raised on Canadian farms each year depend on standards of care set by the federal government and industry.

Humane Canada is the founding animal welfare organization on the National Farm Animal Care Council. National Codes of Practice are guidelines for the care and handling of farm animals. Humane Canada is directly involved in updating the Code for dairy cattle and goats. We have started the work on a Code that will examine the transportation of these animals to ensure their care meets or exceeds federal regulations.

7.9 million cats and 5.9 million dogs cared for in Canadian homes.

In 2018 81,000 cats and 30,000 dogs moved through Canadian Shelter system.  This number above does not include feral or homeless pets.

Over 1 billion animals in Canada are at risk through outdated animal welfare legislation and inadequate criminal code provisions.

Number of animals potentially impacted through work to update Canada’s legislative and legal framework:

• 800 million farm animals
• 13.8 million companion animals
• 80,000 species of wildlife
• 3,966,417 animals used in research

Women with pets are enduring domestic abuse longer and returning home sooner for fear their animals could be hurt, according to new research from the University of Windsor.

89% of women in shelters report the perpetrator abused their pet, 100% of serial predators commit acts of animal cruelty and 47% of women delay leaving an abuser because they can’t take their pets.

Sexual predators often use animals to groom or control the children and other vulnerable people they abuse. A recent report from the Center for Child Protection found that 87 per cent of the bestiality cases it studied also involved the sex abuse of children.

Reducing violence in our communities, ensuring the most vulnerable animals and humans are protected.

There is a direct link between violence against animals and violence against humans.

Humane Canada brings police, crown prosecutors, social workers, animal welfare enforcement professionals, researchers and others together regularly to provide the tools and training to protect vulnerable animals and people. 

Humane Canada delivered the first street-level training to police officers on the violence link in 2018.

Humane Canada has supported the development and promotion of supportive housing arrangements that allow women and children to flee violence with their pets. By providing annual training for crown prosecutors and hosting the only national database of Canadian case law on animal cruelty cases we ensure more animal abusers are charged, prosecuted and receive proportionate sentences.

Humane Canada brings a national voice and perspective to Federal and Provincial governments to ensure continuous improvement as we build a more humane Canada for everyone. Just last year we worked closely with the Ontario government to develop the new Provincial Animal Welfare Services (PAWS) Act. In 2020 we will launch an accreditation program to standardize shelter practices.

Humane Canada works closely with governments and industry experts to develop best practices and improve laws for animal welfare and protection. We see our results in the momentum we built in 2019 with the passing of three animal welfare laws, including the banning of captivity of whales and dolphins. We aren’t going to slow down anytime soon.