Animal protection laws in Ontario are less stringent than anywhere else in Canada.
There's no provincial legislation here against causing distress to an animal, even though it's an offence everywhere else.
"We're decades behind the rest of Canada," OSPCA chief inspector Hugh Coghill said. "We have the worst provincial legislation in the country."
Currently the maximum penalty for the abuse of an animal is six months in jail, a $2,000 fine and up to a two-year ban on owning animals.
We would like to see maximum penalties reach $10,000 fines, two years in jail and a lifetime prohibition from owning animals.
Changing federal laws has proven too difficult to pursue.
Since 1999, eight private members' bills have been tabled in Ottawa to introduce stiffer penalties and change the wording of the current Criminal Code legislation, according to the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies. But to no avail.
Getting the province to act hasn't been a walk in the park either. According to Coghill, Kwinter was set to amend the provincial act in 2005, but that attempt died on the table.
The hope is that with enough signatures we can help in changing Ontario's lack of animal protection laws.
