Montreal, February 3rd 2016 – The Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA) Canada is happy to announce a great victory in their fight against for-profit pounds. The city of Laval has announced on February 3rd 2016, that they will build a new municipal animal control facility that is to serve the entire city. This new animal control center is projected to be in service by the end of 2018. While this is a victory for their campaign against for-profit pounds, the SPA Canada remains outraged with Laval’s decision to give their animal control contract to Berger Blanc. It is following Radio Canada’s investigation of this for-profit pound in 2011 exposing their questionable practices, with SPA Canada’s agent , that Laval began their transition towards a more ethical animal control. “It is quite a shock that Laval has gone back to the Berger Blanc after having cut ties with them in 2014. The animals will once again be the ones to bear the consequences,” states Gabriel Villeneuve, Director of Campaigns for SPA Canada.

The city of Laval’s investment of over 15 million dollars in a new animal control center is nonetheless encouraging. Laval is also the first city, following the Berger Blanc scandal, to actually listen to SPA Canada’s demands to take responsibility for animal control themselves and not hand off the contract to a third party. Furthermore, Berger Blanc must fulfill certain requirements in their contract with Laval, including mandatory sterilization and microchipping of all animals adopted, representing an important step in attacking the pet overpopulation problem. Still, Gabriel Villeneuve, maintains that: “To truly have an impact in solving the pet overpopulation problem, cities must offer a free or low-cost sterilization clinic as well as ban the sale of animals, be it in pet shops or otherwise, in order to make adoption from a shelter the only option.” Other services such as Trap-Neuter-Release-Maintain programs should also be offered by the city in order to humanely deal with the stray cat population.

It is our hope that all cities will follow in Laval’s footsteps and finally commit to taking responsibility for their animal control services. Both the cities of Montreal and Quebec have announced plans to invest in more ethical animal control, yet neither have committed to managing the centers themselves. SPA Canada remains encouraged by this new development and will continue to fight for ethical animal control practices.