Ontario’s animal welfare agency has notified the provincial government that it will no longer investigate and enforce animal cruelty laws.
The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told the province today it will not sign a new contract after the current one expires at the end of March.
The group’s CEO Kate MacDonald tells The Canadian Press that the current model is no longer working.
She says the organization will shift into a support role in animal cruelty investigations, providing animal shelter, forensic evidence collection and veterinary services.
MacDonald says all the enforcement officers will be shifted to this new support side or to the organization’s expanding animal rescue arm.
The OSPCA has enforced animal cruelty laws in Ontario for the past 100 years.