(Montreal) With its new certification for dog and cat farms and nurseries, the National Association for Animal Welfare in Quebec (ANIMA-Quebec) wishes to protect animals, but also to fill a legislative void.
Posted at 4:56 p.m.
If the owners of 15 or more of these animals must hold a permit from the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation (MAPAQ), “currently, in Quebec, we have no firm regulations regarding small breeders,” explained the organization’s executive director, veterinarian Chantal Allinger, in a telephone interview.
“It’s a situation that is somewhat problematic, because there are a lot of people who go into breeding thinking that it’s very lucrative and easy, when it’s absolutely not the case”, she lamented.
ANIMA-Québec’s certification program was funded by MAPAQ.
Before affixing its seal, the non-profit organization verifies whether the establishment ensures the physical health of its dogs or cats, in particular by providing them with exercise, quality food and a hygienic environment. , but also their psychological health.
“When the animal is very young, we want it to be enriched, for that animal to be handled, for it to be socialized, for it to be put in all sorts of conditions so that it can, quietly not quickly, growing up, being used to these things and not having problems later, ”she said. Cage size can also be a factor, as can the ability to interact with other animals.
Another criterion evaluated by ANIMA-Québec is the follow-up done with the adopter.
There are many people, unfortunately, who go through extremely difficult experiences where they have no support from the breeder after adoption. […] the new owners are very clueless, trying to go for advice left and right.
Chantal Allinger, veterinarian
Sometimes a visit to the veterinarian reveals that the dog or cat has a heart defect or a chronic disease and that its days are numbered, “and since there is no adequate contract, adequate follow-up from the breeder , people find themselves losing not only the money they have invested”, but also a family member to whom they are attached.
Gray area
According to the D.D Allinger, breeders of 2 to 14 animals themselves do not always know which foot to dance on, as “they are regulated very differently from one municipality to another” and “sometimes, within the same municipality, there aren’t really any very clear rules about that”.
“To manage this type of question, it requires skills that are very specific, expertise” that a municipal council does not always have on hand, she said.
It is this void that ANIMA-Québec seeks to fill with its certification, which also includes “accompaniment with the breeders, that is to say that we guide them and support them in a constructive way for the to very high standards”. The evaluators are professionals in the field, assured the doctor, either “veterinarians, animal health technicians” or other officials “who are neither breeders nor owners of pensions” for the sake of neutrality.
However, going through this process remains a voluntary choice.
Moreover, even if the MAPAQ lists more than 350 breeders of 15 or more cats or dogs on the territory of Quebec, it is impossible to say how many smaller breedings or pensions are in activity today, or how they treat the animals. of which they have custody.
The MAPAQ website reports 114 convictions related to animal health or welfare in the past two years. However, this list does not specify whether the offense was committed by an individual or a company, or what animal species it is.
The reasons most often cited in this list are the lack of proper care for a suffering animal, breaches of safety and an unsanitary or inappropriate environment.