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BC SPCA asks public to support bill against animal fighting, bestiality

The BC SPCA is trying to rally support for Bill C-84, which broadens the definition of bestiality and expands provisions against animals used for fighting.
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The BC SPCA is trying to rally support for Bill C-84, which broadens the definition of bestiality and expands provisions against animals used for fighting.

Bill C-84 was introduced by former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and includes amendments to section 445.1(1)(b) and 447 of the Criminal Code.

“The amendments would cover promoting, arranging and profiting from animal fighting as well as breeding, training or transporting an animal to fight,” said a BC SPCA news release. “The bill would also ban the keeping of an arena for the purposes of animal fighting.”

The legislation would also amend the definition of bestiality in section 160 of the Criminal Code to “clarify that it involves any contact for a sexual purpose between a person and an animal. This effectively closes a legal loophole discovered in a case that went to the Supreme Court in 2016. Judges would also be able to ban anyone convicted of bestiality from having animals in their custody. Another amendment would require those convicted of bestiality to be registered on Canada’s National Sex Offender Registry.”

Bill C-84 is before the House of Commons for third reading after it passed committee. The BC SPCA is directly people to the site https://spca.bc.ca/ways-to-help/take-action/pass-bill-c-84 for how to show your support.