My letter about the raccoon beatings is in the Globe & Mail today
Photo from the Globe & Mail
As some of you know, I’m working for Lawyers for Animal Welfare (LAW) over the summer. We were horrified to learn on Wednesday of the Toronto man who allegedly beat a family of baby raccoons with a shovel, while the mother raccoon watched helplessly and tried to carry her babies to shelter. It’s the kind of senseless cruelty that makes my head spin.
We issued a media release, applauding the police for acting swiftly and charging the suspect. I also sent a letter to a few papers on behalf of LAW, and the Globe & Mail published it today. Sweet! The link is here, and the text is below.
Raccoons, humans
Lawyers for Animal Welfare (LAW) applaud the police for reacting quickly to horrifying reports that a Toronto man was allegedly beating a family of baby raccoons with a shovel-like tool (Humans Draw First Blood In Toronto’s War On Raccoons – June 2).
It’s essential Crown prosecutors pursue all cases involving animal-cruelty charges vigorously. Society must send a strong message that harming animals will be met with heavy sanctions.
Camille Labchuk, LawyersForAnimalWelfare.com, Toronto
A couple bits of the letter didn’t make it into the paper, including the fact that the Criminal Code provisions dealing with animal cruelty are very weak and in desperate need of updating. However, for cases like this, Crown prosecutors have the tools they need to pursue strong sanctions. Let’s hope the full force of the law is brought to bear in this and other animal cruelty cases.
Scridb filter
I was equally disturbed by the rallies in support of the person who did this.