Measures should have addressed OSPCA accountability says farm leader

Saturday, October 26, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

Today’s announcement of new provincial animal protection measures has done little to bolster Ontario farmers’ confidence in the organization that will implement them.

The bulk of the announcement, delivered by Ontario Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur in Toronto, dealt with new animal protection measures for zoos and aquariums and the establishment of a squad of specially trained investigators to crack down on puppy and kitten mills.

What wasn’t discussed but should have been, says Mark Wales, Ontario Federation of Agriculture president, was “any level of accountability” for the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to the Ontario legislature or the community safety and correctional services minister. “We’ve said all along the OSPCA needs to be accountable. They’ve been running amuck and they don’t answer to anybody.”

One new measure that may affect farming is the OSPCA’s plan to improve its response to animal welfare complaints from rural and northern communities.

Connie Mallory, OSPCA chief inspector, says currently there are areas of Ontario where the agency doesn’t have any agents or inspectors. People there can only access the society by calling its Newmarket head office long distance or through its website, and “animal welfare concerns are addressed by either the municipality or by the police,” she notes.

A 24-hour, seven-day-a-week call centre, another measure that was announced, will provide these communities, and others, access to trained people who can determine the type of response necessary. “We will be linked across the province by one central phone call.”

The OSPCA is making it a priority to set up the call centre, she says, noting they don’t know yet when it will be in place.

The new help line won’t affect the operation of Farm & Food Care Ontario’s animal care helpline.

Crystal Mackay, executive director of Farm & Food Care Ontario, says its helpline isn’t designed to deal with animal welfare emergencies. It was set up in 1992 by one of Farm & Food Care’s predecessors, the Ontario Farm Animal Care Council.

Calls are accepted during regular business hours and the line gives people a confidential way to report situations of farm animals they feel require better care, or for farmers themselves to call.

“The idea is to try and reach those cases and situations before the situation worsens,” it says on the Farm & Food Care website.

Mackay says the OSPCA and helpline work together and sometimes the helpline refers cases to the OSPCA while the agency sometimes calls the helpline.

Wales says he doesn’t think establishing the call centre will impact farmers because “quite frankly anybody can call any time now.’  

But he’s pleased to see specialized livestock training for agricultural sector investigators is also in the works. It’s something the agricultural community has been asking for, he says.

Mallory says all of the OSPCA’s 85 agents and inspectors go through livestock training now. They also have designated officers to respond to complaints about dairy and beef cattle as well as pigs. “We have worked an agreement with those commodity groups to work together for the betterment of the animals,” she notes. The additional government money means the designated officers will now be sent for more enhanced training.

“Our critics have said we have officers who aren’t knowledgeable or don’t know a lot about livestock,” she says. “I disagree but what we’re going to do is enhance the officers’ skills and their education so hopefully there will be a much better comfort level when someone has to deal with these officers.”

The province is giving the OSPCA $5.5 million annually to boost its work protecting animals. The OSPCA will provide the government regular progress reports demonstrating how it’s delivering the new enforcement initiatives.

Mallory says the government money “is certainly a significant amount of money but it doesn’t nearly cover what it costs us to do our business already. She says it costs the OSPCA $14 million to $17 million a year to run the investigations department. The government money “will certainly help” and the society will continue fundraising to get money for its budget, she says.

Wales notes that the OFA objects to an enforcement agency conducting fundraising for its operations and would like to see the two functions split apart. BF