Council vote cruel to animals

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/05/2022 (1529 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DISAPPOINTING news emerged from Winnipeg city council following a recent vote on proposed revisions to the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw.

For close to a year, councillors and the mayor have been informed about the problem of exotic-animal hoarding in our city. They’ve learned about the seizures of hundreds of rodents, rabbits, birds and other species living in squalor, which regularly occurs in Winnipeg.

Citizens are seldom privy to the particulars of these interventions because the province of Manitoba does not disclose information about active investigations. Animal welfare workers are not so lucky as to be spared the gruesome details.

Who takes on the burden of these animal-welfare crises? Non-profit organizations like the Winnipeg Humane Society, and smaller animal rescue groups usually hamstrung by limited funds and resources.

When the province itself gets involved in exotic-animal hoarding cases, it frequently takes the form of mass euthanasia.

Why is it against the law in Winnipeg to have more than four dogs or six cats per household but perfectly legal for anyone to house dozens of snakes, ferrets, or macaws?

As a veterinarian, I am alarmed by the fact that certain dog breeds are banned in this city while so many inappropriate exotic species remain fair game, some that will inevitably outgrow any size container used to house them, others so distressed by confinement as to be driven to self-mutilation. Some species are acquired only to be caged with no regard to the stresses and health risks they face in captivity, their only sense of security derived from retreating for hours under overturned coconut shells or plastic rocks.

Our city council was successfully persuaded by certain fear-mongers that Winnipeg Animal Services was coming for grandma’s canary, which, of course, was never the case. Councillors were compelled by a targeted, inbox-filling campaign by exotic-animal enthusiasts (or “specialty pet-keepers,” to use their euphemism) to block Animal Services and its evolving plan to protect exotic creatures from irresponsible owners.

The truth is that negotiations between Animal Services, pet retailers and hobbyist groups were already well underway. Inevitable compromise would have brought improvements for exotic pets in Winnipeg within a matter of months. Instead, because of fervent pushback by some people on any changes at all, we’re now stuck with a deeply problematic status quo.

All that Animal Services had requested was a time extension, in order to continue working with stakeholders to improve exotic animal regulation in our city. Unfortunately, the issue of welfare for creatures like geckos and goldfish was just not sexy or politically advantageous enough for our elected officials. So, as always, the animals themselves are the ones who will suffer.

In case you hadn’t noticed, animals are always the losers when they’re up against the interests of people.

A couple of times during delegations at council, the trite suggestion, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” got bandied about. But it is broke. It’s incredibly broke and it desperately needs fixing.

This city needs to wake up to the realities confronted by those of us on the front lines — the veterinarians, rescue workers, and shelter personnel who regularly attend to heartbreaking cases of neglect and cruelty, on both large and small scales; from vast numbers of a species being bred and neglected, to a single exotic animal suffering from poor husbandry and nutrition.

Maybe the next time animal-protection officers come across a thousand domestic rats hoarded at a downtown residence, or rescue a hundred distraught parrots from a suburban bungalow — both actual examples of the cases too often encountered by investigators in our city — we should reroute the creatures from the Winnipeg Humane Society to a spare office at 510 Main Street.

Perhaps the putrid stench of ammonia or the deafening cacophony of avian anxiety might rattle the cages of our legislators and get them to heed the magnitude of the animal welfare crises we face in this city.

In the meantime, I and others will carry on with the work of actually addressing these problems, while our elected officials at city hall turn a blind eye to focus on matters more important to them.

If you’re troubled by what you’ve read here: good, you should be. Now, put fingers to keyboard and let your councillors know that they’ve failed you by betraying the voiceless animals of our city.

We will all be grateful for your efforts.

Dr. Jonas Watson is a companion animal veterinarian in Winnipeg whose patients include a variety of exotic animal species. He chairs the Winnipeg Humane Society’s board of directors.