Founded | 2008 |
---|---|
Type | Non-profit |
Focus | Animal law |
Location |
|
Area served | Canada |
Key people | Camille Labchuk (Executive Director) |
Website | www |
Animal Justice is a Canadian nonprofit organization with three main areas of focus: lobbying for stronger animal protection laws, improved enforcement of those laws, and fighting for animals in court. [1]
It is Canada’s only national organization dedicated to advancing the interests of animals in the law. The organization makes submissions in court to obtain intervenor status and provide the perspective of animals. [2] The organization was founded in 2008 and is led by animal rights lawyer Camille Labchuk. [3]
In 2017, Animal Justice released undercover footage taken by a whistleblower who worked on the grounds of Papanack Park Zoo near Ottawa, Ontario. [4] The zoo was investigated but no charges were laid. [5]
In 2016, Animal Justice was the first animal advocacy group to make oral arguments as an intervener in a Supreme Court of Canada case in order to provide context to the Court's assessment. [6] The case identified a loophole that most sexual abuse of animals in Canada was not illegal. [7] Following the case, Animal Justice campaigned for Bill C-84, which closed the loophole and banned all forms on bestiality in Canada. [8]
Animal Justice supported the passage of Bill S-203 that phases out the practice of keeping cetaceans in captivity in Canada and prohibits breeding of cetaceans and collecting reproductive materials from them. [9]
Animal Justice supported the passage of Bill C-68, banning shark finning in Canadian waters and the import and export of shark fins. [10]
In 2020, W5 (TV program) aired Animal Justice’s undercover investigation showing alleged abuse at a pig farm in Puntam, Ontario. [11]
In 2021, Animal Justice released an undercover video showing allegations of animal abuse at an organic dairy farm in Abbotsford, BC. [12] The footage prompted an investigation from British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the farm had its licence suspended. [13]
In 2021, Animal Justice filed a constitutional challenge to anti-whistleblower laws in Ontario that would make it illegal for journalists and animal advocates to go undercover on farms to expose animal cruelty, known as “ag gag” laws. [14] The organization is arguing that the Ontario law violates Canadians’ right to freedom of expression. [15]
The organization has held an annual national animal law conference since 2019. [16] Philosopher Peter Singer was the keynote speaker at the first conference in 2019. [17] The 2022 Canadian Animal Law Conference had 200 attendees and discussed legal developments furthering animal rights in Canada. [18]
Veal is the meat of calves, in contrast to the beef from older cattle. Veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed; however, most veal comes from young male calves of dairy breeds which are not used for breeding. Generally, veal is more expensive by weight than beef from older cattle. Veal production is a way to add value to dairy bull calves and to utilize whey solids, a byproduct from the manufacturing of cheese.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. PETA says that its entities have more than 9 million members globally.
Louise Arbour, is a Canadian lawyer, prosecutor and jurist.
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or suffering for specific achievements, such as killing animals for entertainment; cruelty to animals sometimes encompasses inflicting harm or suffering as an end in itself, referred to as zoosadism.
A dolphinarium is an aquarium for dolphins. The dolphins are usually kept in a pool, though occasionally they may be kept in pens in the open sea, either for research or public performances. Some dolphinaria consist of one pool where dolphins perform for the public, others are part of larger parks, such as marine mammal parks, zoos or theme parks, with other animals and attractions as well.
Marineland, is a themed zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The park has performing marine animal shows, exhibits of marine and land animals, and amusement rides. It keeps dolphins, sea lions, and beluga whales. Until 2023, the park also kept walruses and orcas. The park also keeps bears, deer, and other land animals. It was founded and operated by John Holer, a Slovenian immigrant, from 1961 until his death in 2018. It is privately owned and operated by his family.
Animal welfare and rights in Israel is about the treatment of and laws concerning nonhuman animals in Israel. Israel's major animal welfare law is the Animal Protection Law, passed in 1994, which has been amended several times since. Several other laws also related to the treatment of animals: Rabies Ordinance, 1934; Fishing Ordinance, 1937; Public Health Ordinance, 1940; Wildlife Protection Law, 1955; Plants Protection Law, 1956; Criminal Procedure Law, 1982; Animal Disease Ordinance, 1985; National Parks, Nature Reserves, National Sites and Memorial Sites Law, 1991; the Law of Veterinarians, 1991; Dog Regulation Law, 2002; Rabies Regulations (Vaccinations), 2005; and Prohibition on declawing cats unless for reasons vital to the cat's health or owner's health, 2011.
Animal Outlook, formerly known as Compassion Over Killing (COK), is a nonprofit animal advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. It is headed since May 2021 by Executive Director Cheryl Leahy, who succeeded Erica Meier. Formed in 1995, as a high school club, their primary campaigns are to advocate against factory farming and promote vegan eating. While the group welcomes those who are interested in animal welfare who eat meat, it encourages a transition to a plant-based diet.
The Enumclaw horse sex case was a series of incidents in 2005 involving Kenneth D. Pinyan, an engineer who worked for Boeing and resided in Gig Harbor, Washington; James Michael Tait, a truck driver; Douglas Spink; and other unidentified men. Pinyan and Tait filmed and distributed zoophilic pornography of Pinyan receiving anal sex from a stallion under the alias "Mr. Hands". After engaging in this activity on multiple occasions over an unknown span of time, Pinyan received fatal internal injuries in one such incident.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund is an animal law advocacy organization. Its stated mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. It accomplishes this by filing high-impact lawsuits to protect animals from harm, providing free legal assistance and training to prosecutors to assure that animal abusers are punished for their crimes, supporting tough animal protection legislation and fighting legislation harmful to animals, and providing resources and opportunities to law students and professionals to advance the emerging field of animal law. In addition to their national headquarters in Cotati, California, the Animal Legal Defense Fund maintains an office in Portland, Oregon.
Shark finning is the act of removing fins from sharks and discarding the rest of the shark back into the ocean. This act is prohibited in many countries. The sharks are often still alive when discarded, but without their fins. Unable to swim effectively, they sink to the bottom of the ocean and die of suffocation or are eaten by other predators. Shark finning at sea enables fishing vessels to increase profitability and increase the number of sharks harvested, as they must only store and transport the fins, by far the most profitable part of the shark; the shark meat is bulky to transport. Many countries have banned this practice and require the whole shark to be brought back to port before removing the fins.
The Papanack Park Zoo is a small zoo in Wendover, Ontario, Canada. It opened in 1994 and came under new ownership in 2014 with the intention of acting as a conservation park.
Zoophilia is a paraphilia in which a person experiences a sexual fixation on non-human animals.
Current laws passed by the Parliament of Canada in 2014 make it illegal to purchase or advertise sexual services and illegal to live on the material benefits from sex work. The law officially enacted criminal penalties for "Purchasing sexual services and communicating in any place for that purpose."
Mercy For Animals (MFA) is an international nonprofit animal protection organization founded in 1999 by Milo Runkle. MFA's mission is to "prevent cruelty to farmed animals and promote compassionate food choices and policies."
Ag-gag laws are anti-whistleblower laws that apply within the agriculture industry. Popularized by Mark Bittman in an April 2011 The New York Times column, the term ag-gag typically refers to state laws in the United States of America that forbid undercover filming or photography of activity on farms without the consent of their owner—particularly targeting whistleblowers of animal rights abuses at these facilities. Although these laws originated in the United States, they have also begun to appear elsewhere, such as in Australia and Canada.
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith is a Canadian politician who is the member of Parliament (MP) for Beaches—East York. A member of the Liberal Party, Erskine-Smith was elected to the House of Commons in the 2015 federal election. Before entering politics, Erskine-Smith was a commercial litigation lawyer. On May 8, 2023, Erskine-Smith announced his candidacy for the 2023 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election.
Animal welfare and rights in Canada is about the laws concerning and treatment of nonhuman animals in Canada. Canada has been considered to have weak animal welfare protections by the organization World Animal Protection. The vast majority of Canadians are for further animal protections, according to a poll conducted on behalf of Mercy for Animals.
The Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act is an act of the Parliament of Canada. Passed into law in 2019, the Act bans the capture and keeping in captivity of cetaceans. There is a grandfather clause for cetaceans in captivity when the law first came into force, and other exceptions, such as where a provincial government has issued a licence to keep cetaceans for research purposes.
Amy Soranno is a Canadian animal rights activist in British Columbia.