Hand animal abuse calls over to police, OHS president says

The question of who will handle animal cruelty investigations in Ottawa remains unanswered, just three months before the agency currently enforcing the law plans to stop.

The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) said no on Tuesday to a requestfrom the Ontario government to continue enforcing animal cruelty laws until the end of 2019. Instead, the OSPCA plans to shut down its enforcement arm onJune 28.

That leaves municipalities including Ottawa scrambling to fill the void.

Certainly the police would tick a lot of our boxes.- Bruce Roney, Ottawa Humane Society

The president and CEO of the Ottawa Humane Society confirmed it won't be his agency.

"Our board concluded that we could not provide the service that is really needed. We would not be the lead,"Bruce Roneysaid Thursday. "We could certainly provide support services, [but] that investigatory role really deserves more of a public resource base than we're able to provide."

Toppingthelist of potential candidates is the Ottawa Police Service,Roneysaid, with its combination ofaccountability, rigoroustraining and resources.

"Certainly the police would tick a lot of our boxes," Roney said. "I think we're very lucky in Ottawa thatwe have an excellent police service. The role of the SPCA has greatly diminished over the last several years, and Ottawa police have been picking up the slack."

Lone OSPCA officer's hours limited

Until 2016, the Ottawa Humane Society (OHS) handled animal cruelty cases in Ottawathrough a delegated authority issued by the OSPCA.

But then the two agencies wageda bitterpublic battle over the governance of the OSPCA, resulting in the latter revoking the OHS's mandate to investigate and lay charges.Since then, Roney said, theOSPCA hasn't invested enough resources in enforcing animal cruelty laws in Ottawa.

A spokesperson for the OSPCAconfirmed it has just one officer serving Ottawa during regular business hours on weekdays only, but said that individualis supported by other OSPCA officesacross the province.

Emergency situations that arise during evenings and weekendsare already handed off to Ottawa police, the spokesperson said.

Based on U.S. model

The Ottawa Police Service said it's waiting to hear from the province and the OSPCA about what will happen after June 28.

Making police the go-to agency for animal cruelty cases would require the blessingof the Ottawa Police Services Board.

It certainly isn't a new idea in North America.

The OSPCA saidit believes Ontario should adopt the model used by the AmericanSPCA, under whichpolice services already handle animal cruelty callswith the advice and guidance of humane societies and the SPCA.