{"id":4,"date":"2013-03-18T16:28:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-18T23:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kitsme\/?page_id=4"},"modified":"2013-04-01T14:05:18","modified_gmt":"2013-04-01T21:05:18","slug":"legislation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kitsme\/legislation\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major issue with exotic pet ownership in Canada is that it is poorly regulated. There are a multitude of laws and regulations in place but they each only apply to certain areas, and vary drastically across the country. This highlights the need for some kind of fluidity between different municipalities, and provinces. At each level of government there are some rules regarding exotic pets, but the country should work towards harmonizing these regulations to create less confusion, and better safety, welfare and understanding.<\/p>\n

Federal Law<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In federal law there are a number of different acts that in some way address exotic animals, but the majority to so indirectly and are to do with importing or obtaining them. For example the Wild Animal and Plant Trade Regulations (SOR\/96-263)<\/a> provides clarification as to which animals need a permit in order to be imported. The Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (S.C. 1992, c. 52) \u00a0could easily be applied to importing exotics <\/a>\u201c6. (1) No person shall import into Canada any animal or plant that was taken, or any animal or plant, or any part or derivative of an animal or plant, that was possessed, distributed or transported in contravention of any law of any foreign state.\u201d There are no laws to do with the ownership of exotic animals directly. The criminal code has act 445<\/a>. \u201c(1) Every one commits an offence who, wilfully and without lawful excuse, (a) kills, maims, wounds, poisons or injures dogs, birds or animals that are not cattle and are kept for a lawful purpose; or (b) places poison in such a position that it may easily be consumed by dogs, birds or animals that are not cattle and are kept for a lawful purpose.\u201d This could be applied to an exotic pet if it could be proven that an owner was causing it \u201cunnecessary suffering\u201d. Finally, to conclude according to the Canadian Constitution Act, animals are considered property, and control of exotic pets is left to provincial legislation.<\/p>\n

Provincial Law<\/strong><\/p>\n

Each province has slightly different laws regarding exotic pets. This makes it very confusing for Canadians, and causes difficulties when moving from one province to another. Most provinces require some kind of licence for at lest some species of exotic pets. Quebec and Saskatchewan have lists of species that do and don’t require permits, but none are flat out banned. Ontario gives\u00a0municipalities the responsibility of dealing with exotic animals, and the by-laws are not standardized. British Columbia is the only province with a full out ban on certain species.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

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British Columbia: The provincial BC Wildlife Act [RSBC 1996] <\/a>Chapter 488 deals with the control of alien species. The Act under the section Controlled Alien Species 6.4 states that \u201cIf the minister considers that a non-native species described in paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of “species” poses a risk to the health or safety of any person or poses a risk to property, wildlife or wildlife habitat, the minister may make regulations designating the species as a controlled alien species.\u201d 6.5 adds that \u201cThe minister may, by regulation, regulate, prohibit and impose requirements in relation to the following: (a) the possession of a species individual of a controlled alien species;\u201d 33 states: \u201cA person commits an offence if the person has live wildlife in his or her personal possession except as authorized under a licence or permit or as provided by regulation.\u201d 21 says: \u201cExcept as authorized by a permit issued under this Act or under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, a person commits an offence if the person imports into British Columbia live wildlife, or the egg of a wildlife species.\u201d Finally the provincial government has a list<\/a> of exotic species which are flat out banned.<\/p>\n

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Ontario: Bill 125, Exotic Wildlife in Captivity Act<\/a>, 2010 states: “47.2\u00a0\u00a0(1)\u00a0\u00a0No person shall keep live exotic wildlife in captivity except under the authority of a licence and in accordance with the regulations.” Unfortunately it is left up to municipalities to decide which animals qualify as “exotic wildlife” and require permits or are outright banned.<\/p>\n

Municipal Law<\/strong><\/p>\n

Municipalities often take things into their own hands to provide slightly stricter laws regarding exotic pets. Although most provinces do not provide out right bans of species, some municipalities do. Unfortunately this provides even more confusion as to what is legal and what is not. this also makes it difficult for owners to relocate. Another issue with this system is that although big cities may have strict by-laws, small or rural municipalities may not have any by-laws regarding exotic pets at all.<\/p>\n

Enforcement<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/a>

Mike Hopcraft, with his pet caiman, says B.C.’s new exotic pet law goes too far. (CBC)<\/p><\/div>\n

A huge issue with regulation of exotic pet owner ship is enforcing the rules. There are no inspections of peoples homes to see if they are hiding an exotic pet. These animals are only discovered if someone reports them. Even then the police cannot just barge into someone’s home, the\u00a0Canada Wildlife Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. W-9) 11.1 says: “(3) The wildlife officer may not enter a dwelling-place except with the consent of the occupant or person in charge of the dwelling-place or under the authority of a warrant.” Then there is the fact that some exotic pets are small and may live their whole life without being spotted by an outsider. Canada is also a geographically huge country. This makes enforcing exotic pet laws very difficult. In a very urban location it may be easy to spot the tiger in your neighbour’s yard, but when the nearest property is a few kilometres away, it becomes a bit tougher. A British Columbian owner stated: “They\u00a0<\/strong>can put the new laws on it all they want. It’s going <\/strong>to go <\/strong>underground” Another issue is the definition of an exotic pet. Where should the line be drawn? Laws are so uninformed it makes it difficult to know what’s okay and what’s not. how should tropical fish de dealt with? What about small seemingly non-dangerous mammals and lizards, and what about birds? There is a great need for clear and uniformed legislation regarding exotic pets for the entire country.<\/p>\n

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A major issue with exotic pet ownership in Canada is that it is poorly regulated. There are a multitude of laws and regulations in place but they each only apply to certain areas, and vary drastically across the country. This highlights the need for some kind of fluidity between different municipalities, and provinces. At each […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17800,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kitsme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kitsme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kitsme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kitsme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17800"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kitsme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kitsme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kitsme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions\/76"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/kitsme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}