Kendra Coulter, Associate Professor in Labour Studies, wrote a piece for the Huffington Post recently about who should be enforcing animal cruelty laws in Ontario.

Coulter writes:

There is no one-size-fits-all model for every Canadian province, but the strongest options for Ontario involve police. I was not always convinced of this. But after discussions with dozens of experts and extensive, diligent study, I am now confident that the most promising paths involve police services.

Why? Additional details are provided in the report, A More Humane and Safer Ontario: The Future of Animal Cruelty Investigations.

But let’s focus on the main claims made against police involvement, and the arguments for it. Given how important cruelty investigations are for the health and well-being of vulnerable animals and people, we cannot rely on unsubstantiated blanket statements or anecdotes. 

The suggestion that “police won’t do it” is simply incorrect. Police have investigated cruelty. Many police services in Ontario are already researching the logistics of doing more and what resources would be required. The prospect of additional responsibility is normally met with some ambivalence or uneven levels of enthusiasm. This is completely expected. Someone is going to be doing more work as Ontario corrects the sidelining of crimes against animals. More resources and training will be needed. This, too, is completely expected.

 Continue reading the full article here.