The Animal Protection Act, 2018 is the Saskatchewan law that protects animals from abuse and distress. It is available online here.
The Act says that:
An animal is in distress if it is:
A list of “Codes of Practice” that describe acceptable care standards for animals can be found in the Animal Protection Act Regulations here.
If a person is convicted under this Act, the possible penalties are:
The two main types of animal cruelty are neglect and deliberate physical abuse. Most complaints that we investigate deal with some form of neglect, which may or may not be deliberate.
Signs of neglect can include:
• Very thin animals
• Animals without access to proper food, water or shelter
• Injuries or illnesses that are not treated
• Matted coats, overgrown hooves, unsanitary conditions
• Deliberately abandoned animals
We encourage people to make a complaint about potentially neglected animals as soon they become concerned, rather than waiting for animals to become critically thin or for the situation to become an emergency.
Physical abuse can be more difficult to see, and to prove. Unusual or re-occurring injuries can be a sign of abuse, but most often these types of complaints come from someone who has seen an animal being hit, thrown, or otherwise deliberately hurt.
Several sections of Canada’s Criminal Code apply to animal cruelty – see the links on the right. This is federal law that applies across the country, and a Criminal Code conviction leads to a criminal record with all of its consequences.