Key Takeaways:
- Animal rights advocates are protesting the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) new rule prohibiting the import of canines from more than 100 countries.
- The group has begun a petition asking the CFIA to grant an exception for animal rescues and humanitarian endeavors to allow qualified animals into Canada.
A new rule by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that forbids the import of dogs from more than 100 nations is being criticized by animal rights activists.
Beginning on September 28, World Rabies Day, the organization declared it would forbid the entry of commercial canines from nations it deems to be at high risk for canine rabies. The government defines “commercial canines” as dogs used for sales, adoption, fostering, breeding, show or exhibition, research, or other purposes. The agency claims the prohibition is required to reduce dog rabies danger entering Canada.
“The dog rabies strain, which differs from rabies commonly found in wildlife, is not currently present in Canada. However, dogs with this disease were imported into Canada in 2021, “the organization clarified in a notice released on June 28. “Transmission to humans, pets, and wildlife could arise from the importation of even one rabid dog.”
The CFIA has identified several nations as being at high risk, including war-torn Ukraine and Afghanistan, as well as the Philippines and China, where dogs may be sold for the meat trade.
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According to Animal Justice, a Canadian animal protection organization, the prohibition will hinder Canadian organizations and individuals from rescuing frightened canines in these nations.
According to Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice, “many Canadians are anxious to adopt dogs, but this blanket prohibition would condemn thousands of dogs to languish in the streets or be slaughtered in overcrowded shelters instead of finding loving homes in Canada.”
To enable suitable animals into Canada, the group has started a petition asking the CFIA to provide an exception for animal rescues and humanitarian operations. In June, the US Centers for Disease Control amended its dog importation policy to include a comparable exception. As long as certain vaccine and quarantine requirements are met, it now accepts dogs from high-risk nations.
Animal Justice claims in its appeal that the CFIA did not engage with Canadian dog rescue organizations before announcing the ban and that some of these organizations risk going out of business if they cannot continue facilitating foreign rescues.
One such organization, Save a Friend, collaborates with a group in Colombia to provide money for medical care and find homes for dogs rescued from the country’s streets and high-kill shelters. Donations and adoption fees support the organization.
The organization’s director, Roxanne Yanofsky, stated in a press statement that it is stunning that the CFIA didn’t communicate with the dog rescue community before enacting this broad restriction, which could cause many groups to close. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened an already bad condition for animals in Colombia, and if this policy isn’t reversed, more canines will suffer and pass away.
Source: CTV News
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