There is still a lot to do to better protect dogs and cats 10 years after the creation of a provincial law that made them move from a good property to a being with sensitivity.
The fact that Quebec has imposed nearly 300 fines for two years for offenses in the animal welfare law does not move Marie Bélisle, responsible for ethics in the Montreal Régalen Régalen refuge.
“It is a drop of water in the ocean of cruelty that we see,” she says.
At least once a year, the refuge must accommodate abandoned cats wild or left in cruel conditions, such as the two offenses that we relate in boxes.
The director of the refuge, Lise Côté, invites us to go and say hello to Olga, a 15 -year -old cat who survived a “horror house”, as she called her, four years ago, to whom we are unable to find a home.
Olga, 15 -year -old pussy, surviving a “horror house” in 2021, who still lives at the Montreal animal rescue network refuge.
Photo Stéphan Dussault
The cat, in addition to her age, is diabetic and emotional dependent of her roommates, from which we do not want to separate her.
In short, she may end her days.
Not easy
Who are these beast torturers?
“People with mental health problems or people who consider cats like furniture and who should rather buy a doggie,” replied Lise on the side.
Lise Côté, head of the Montreal Réseau Relief Animal Refuge
Archives photo, Stéphan Dussault
Precisely, Quebec law has changed 10 years ago. From now on, animals are no longer considered as movable property, but as beings endowed with sensitivity.
“But the law is difficult to apply. We cannot bear witness to cats, and there is a lack of inspectors to respond to the large number of complaints, ”says Marie Bélisle.
Among the positive points of the law, note the prohibition of several aesthetic care, including the degrifage and cutting of ear or tail, as well as the end of the sale of animals in animals.
The cases of abandonment, however, remain numerous, scattered throughout the year and not limited to July 1. Add to that the increase in sterilization costs, which put off several owners, and you find yourself with many cats on the street who reproduce and which occupy 80% of the 180 places in this refuge.
– With Charles Mathieu
Many problems in 2 years
Number of fines: 292
Total fines: 764 000$
Sources: data from the MAPAQ website. Contraventions to the law on animal welfare from June 2023 to June 2025.
Top 5 offenders
She abandons 23 cats
When the inspectors enter Mont-Joli’s accommodation on October 3, 2024, Nathalie Dubé is no longer. She pushed herself by abandoning 23 cats without food there. The smell is unbearable. In some rooms, we barely see the tiles, which is full of excrement and traces of urine.
The four litter of the 23 cats were fulfilled, so that they were condemned to do their needs directly on the ground of the housing of Nathalie Dubé.
Photo provided by MAPAQ
Veterinarians who take care of the animals after seizure of animals note, among other things, an infestation of fleas and infections with lungs and eyes.
Infected eye of one of the 23 cats survived in the accommodation of Nathalie Dubé.
Photo provided by MAPAQ
“The state of all animals shows that basic care was not provided,” conclude the doctors.
Most of the 23 cats were very dirty, the housing floor of Nathalie Dubé being full of urine and excrement.
Photo provided by MAPAQ
It was at least the third visit in five months of MAPAQ in the accommodation. At the second, one of the inspectors specifies being unable to go upstairs, “because the air is too irritating”.
The woman is sentenced to a fine of $ 3,500 on May 8 for her negligence.
A chat dead on the couch
The accommodation of James Douglas Robb, located on Boulevard Salaberry, in Mercier, was the scene of an extraordinary scene on November 20, 2024. There were 29 cats there, including seven kittens under 6 months old, and a dog, in a dismal state. Reading the inspection report gives cold in the back.
Most cats were in bad shape, like this one with an infected eye.
Photo provided by MAPAQ
“In the living room I see seven reaction kittens who do not seem to have energy on the couch,” notes an inspector. Their bones are apparent, their heads and their ears seem disproportionate to their bodies, then some have purulent secretions in the nose and eyes. The corpse of a kitten is on the couch among them. […] A gray tiger cat is very amorphous and refuses to get up without help. ”
This kitten had already died, on the couch, at the arrival of the inspectors, in November 2024, in a Mercier, in Montérégie accommodation, where 29 cats were found in bad condition.
Photo provided by MAPAQ
The veterinarian believes that the kitten is probably died of hunger. 5 weeks old, he weighed 170 g, while his normal weight should have been 500 g.
James Douglas Robb does not react when an inspector tells him that several cats require urgent care. It is at this moment that we are entering the care.
One of the cats had to be euthanized given the impossibility of saving it.
General view of James Douglas Robb’s accommodation, where 29 cats were located, including a dead, and a dog.
Photo provided by MAPAQ
Robb was sentenced to $ 3,500 fine on April 25.
The kennel that did not understand anything
On the sportsman’s Chenil site, which offers dog sled outings in Charlevoix, we wrote: “Here, dog sled followers are having a great time.” Obviously, the same cannot be said of dogs.
The landslide company has just received its fourth fine in two years. It is a total $ 17,500 for having operated without a license, but especially for neglecting the health and safety of your dogs.
When the Inspector of MAPAQ passed in August 2023, she saw 83 dogs attached in a clearing, in the sun, without a shadow zone, with niches blue barrels of plastic letting the rain and snow enter.
83 dogs are attached in a clearing, in the sun, without a shadow zone, with the niches of the blue plastic barrels letting the rain and the snow enter.
Photo provided by MAPAQ
“During the inspection, they all hayle,” said the inspectors in their report. Several do not have a device preventing the chain from wrapping, which means that dogs can no longer reach their niche or water and food bowl.
“During the inspection, they all hayle,” said the Inspectors of Mapaq in their report.
Photo provided by MAPAQ
Further on, the puppies cages are rusty and holes, with spicy pins that can injure them.
The puppy cages are rusty and holes, with spicy pins that can injure them.
Photo provided by MAPAQ
These niche security problems were noted during inspection visits in 2018, 2019 and earlier in 2023.
