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Abandoning your dog is explicitly defined as a crime in the Criminal Code of Canada Section 446(1)(b).
S.446(1)(b) states that anyone who, being the owner or the person having custody or control of a domestic animal or a bird wild by nature that is in captivity, abandons it in distress or wilfully neglects or fails to provide suitable and adequate food, water, shelter, and care for it.
Everyone who commits an offence under subsection (1) is guilty of either an indictable offence, liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years, or an offence punishable on summary conviction, liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months or to both. Provincial legislation also potentially criminalizes abandoning your dog as seen in the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, known as the SPCA Act.
Although it is not explicitly stated, it can be inferred from the SPCA Act that abandoning your dog, by certain means, may constitute a criminal offence. Every animal must be provided with adequate and appropriate food and water, adequate and appropriate medical attention, and the care necessary for its general welfare. Moreover, every animal must be transported in a manner that ensures its physical safety and general welfare.
Every animal must also have an adequate and appropriate resting and sleeping area. Furthermore, every animal must be given enough space to enable it to move naturally and exercise, maintain sanitary conditions, proper ventilation, and light, as well as protection from the elements, including harmful temperatures.
For conviction of an offence under Ontario’s SPCA Act, a person could receive a fine up to $60,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both, and could have a lifetime ban from owning an animal. Under this legislation, it could be argued that abandoning your dog, especially by unnecessarily cruel means, constituted a failure to provide the basic standard of care for your dog.
However, the language used in the SPCA Act is more ambiguous and leaves room for potential defences against allegations of failure to provide a basic standard of care for animals.
Facing allegations of an Animal Cruelty offence under either the Criminal Code of Canada or The SPCA Act carries serious consequences. It could be very beneficial to consult a defence lawyer, such as Toronto Criminal Defence Lawyers, to help understand the allegations against you and the potential defences available.
There are ways to relinquish ownership of a pet without potentially facing a criminal offence. Notably, Animal Shelters like the Toronto Humane Society will accept and provide care for animals when their owners are unable to continue to adequately care for them.
