This letter is in response to the article and letter included in the Feb. 20 edition of the Bracebridge Examiner.

Thanks to Jacqueline Lawrence on a well written, factual story regarding the escape and death of the jaguar from a local animal collection.

Privacy legislation restricts what information I, as a law enforcement person, can divulge so I will restrict my comments to clarifying some points that were made by Stacy Young in her letter: “Shame on the Township of Muskoka Lakes.”

Ms. Young indicates that she is dismayed at the Ontario SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and our “failure to take action.” I can advise you that the Ontario SPCA has been aware of the facility mentioned in the article, but like any law enforcement agency, we must work within the confines of existing legislation.

The sad fact is that we live in a province that makes it an offence to own a pit bull dog (with certain restrictions), yet if you want a pet tiger, lion or elephant, that can be arranged fairly easily and there is no provincial legislation that says you cannot have such animals or even if you do, how you must care for them.

Many municipalities in Ontario have recognized the shortcomings of not having such provincial legislation and they have enacted bylaws that prohibit, control or regulate these types of facilities and activities.

The Ontario SPCA is a registered charity that has a mandate to enforce cruelty to animals legislation. We have been doing this for over 100 years, currently working with a provincial act that was passed in 1919 and sections of the Criminal Code that date back to the late 1800s.

It seems to me, and most reasonable people, that the “failure to take action” rests with our elected officials, at all levels of government, that have left the animals in this province at the bottom of the list when it comes to legislative protection. Every other province has better provincial legislation to protect animals.

We are hopeful that the current government will fulfil its election promise made last year and bring Ontario’s animal welfare legislation up to the standards set by every other province in Canada.

In the meantime, the nearly 200 cruelty investigators appointed by the Ontario SPCA will continue to do the best they can with the tools (legislation) that are available to them.

Hugh Coghill

Chief inspector

Ontario SPCA