http://www.torontohumanesociety.com/newsandevents/council.asp
Text from the Humane Society's website explaining the issue below.
-----------------------
The Premier is to be congratulated for having promised animal welfare reform, and by all rights you and I ought to be able to support all of Bill 50 which was introduced in the Legislature by Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Rick Bartolucci on April 3, 2008.
But there is a serious flaw in Bill 50. Section 6 requires the Legislature to strip away the name of any humane society that doesn’t want to be a Member of the Ontario SPCA or the name of any humane society that the Ontario SPCA itself doesn’t want or has expelled.
If The Toronto Humane Society has its name taken away, it will lose its identity of 121 years. Animals will suffer because those needing our services won’t know where to turn. Our income will plummet, depending as it does on name recognition. Severe cuts in services to animals and staff lay-offs will be inevitable.
And for our beloved Toronto Humane Society, the sting of section 6 of Bill 50 is not academic, but real.
On May 10, 2008, through an official by-law, the Ontario SPCA told The Toronto Humane Society to stop Agent Tre Smith and our other cruelty police, our veterinarians, our adoption and other staff, our rescue officers and our volunteers from serving 3/4 of the City of Toronto or face expulsion as an Ontario SPCA Member.
Since The Toronto Humane Society is an Ontario-wide institution, statistically 1/3 of all Ontarians and animals we serve come from now prohibited areas both in Toronto and elsewhere in Ontario. We will be forbidden to serve Etobicoke, Scarborough and North York, and the new Victoria Park Avenue Adoption Centre may wind up padlocked.
It is not as if there are other choices for the animals because there is no humane society in the GTA remotely as busy or serving so many as do our hospital and shelter at 11 River Street. Last year, we gave special care to 12,613 pets, wild animals, and wild birds who because of us – and only because of us – are alive and well today.
It will be heartbreaking to see our work decimated, to see our rescue vehicles garaged, or up for sale, and our staff let go. As supporters, you and I erected the sign in our lobby: “We help all animals”. How can we now say “no” to lost and hurt animals arriving at our door day and night seeking safety and veterinary treatment?
WHEN HE INTRODUCED SECTION 6 OF BILL 50 IN THE LEGISLATURE, MINISTER BARTOLUCCI PROVIDED THE CLOUT TO ENFORCE THESE CUTBACKS. WE MUST STOP SECTION 6 OF BILL 50 FROM EVER BECOMING LAW.
The good news is that section 6 is superfluous to animal protection and won’t be missed. In fact, removing section 6 from Bill 50 will strengthen animal protection.
Cutbacks undermine reform. The strength of Ontario’s animal welfare movement is in providing services locally in a way that reflects the many voices of diverse communities across Ontario. Mr. Bartolucci’s support for curtailed services, and for one voice for animal welfare in Ontario as favoured by the Ontario SPCA, will weaken our movement.
Whether you live across the Province or in Toronto, please join with me and email or write your MPP without delay and ask for the removal of section 6 of Bill 50.
Thank you on behalf of the animals.
Yours truly,
Tim Trow
President
No comments:
Post a Comment