Put Animal Rights into the Constitution

This petition is about recognizing Canada's need for growth. To that end, including animal rights and anti- animal cruelty laws in the Canadian constitution would be a tremendous way to show how we are growing as a nation.

There are some countries in the world that are working for change in the area of federal animal rights protection. Countries like Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, Japan and Sweden all have started to move toward a more enlightened consciousness and have created national laws protecting their animals.

However, even though many countries say it is a felony to act in a cruel manner towards an animal, their laws are not reflective of this and are in fact, quite lenient. In the U.K, jail time for acts of animal cruelty are a maximum of 51 weeks, that's it. Additionally, police are more times than not quite hesitant to enforce these laws.

In 2002, in Toronto, 2 vile, cretins were found guilty of torturing a cat to death in an "art project" they videotaped. The video was entered into evidence. The judge, Ted Ormston thought the crime could have been worse because the cat was "only" tortured for about 10 to 17 minutes, and therefore didn't justify a "maximum" penalty for animal abuse. Maximum meaning only 2-21/2 years jail time, not even prison time.

The judge was quoted as saying, regarding the skinning alive of the kitty, as being "not the worst offense possible." He went on to say, "There are worse ways that this cat could have died." The kitty was later affectionately dubbed "Kensington" for the area of Toronto where he came from.

Judge Ormston's sentencing was excessively lenient. One of the torturers was allowed to serve his sentence during weekends; a sentence lasting for only 90 days, while the second walked free because of time served during the trial.