Animal rights crusade taken to Ottawa

Thanks to all of you that signed the petition for Bill C-373. Petitions were delivered to the House of Commons and if passed this will be a real win for Canada against the fight of animal abuse and cruilty. You can read the story in the Calgary Herald.

Animal rights crusade taken to Ottawa

Tamara Chaney of Didsbury, with her German Shepard Lee, collected 111,000 names on a petition seeking tougher animal cruelty laws.

Photograph by : Ted Rhodes/Calgary Herald

Emma Poole, Calgary Herald

Published: Monday, February 19, 2007

Tamara Chaney of Didsbury will find out today how much her efforts to protect the lives of animals have paid off.Chaney and her "teammates" have gathered more than 111,000 signatures on a petition calling for much tougher penalties for animal abuse.

Today, Wild Rose Conservative MP Myron Thompson will present the pages of signatures to the House of Commons.

"It's pretty surreal. It blows my mind, really," Chaney said in an interview Sunday.

"It was a very insane four months of my life."

The petition was created following the torture and near killing of a border collie-Lab named Daisy Duke, who had to be euthanized Oct. 8.The dog was found in the middle of a Didsbury street with horrific injuries.It's alleged she had been beaten and possibly dragged behind a vehicle.The dog's legs were bound with duct tape, and there was a tow rope around its neck. Its head was wrapped in a bag.

Daniel Charles Haskett, 19, whose family owned the dog, and his then 17-year-old friend, are facing a number of animal cruelty charges, including injuring or endangering an animal and causing unnecessary suffering. The younger teen can't be named due to his age at the time of the incident.

In November, Haskett's lawyer told the Herald it was panic, not deliberate cruelty, that led the teens to inflict near-fatal injuries on the pet.

Mark Takada said the pair were trying to put the dog out of its misery after one of them accidentally ran over it.

The petition, which supports Bill C-373, was circulated across Canada through veterinary offices and other pet-friendly organizations. The signed pages were then sent back to Chaney in Didsbury where they were collected, counted and handed over to Thompson.Bill C-373 would introduce a new offence of "killing an animal brutally or viciously, whether or not it dies immediately.

"Liberal MP Mark Holland tabled the bill in the Commons in October of last year. It calls for a maximum penalty of five years in prison and unlimited fines for indictable offences, or 18 months in jail and fines of up to $5,000 for summary convictions. The penalties would apply to the offender no matter if he or she owned the animal or not.

Currently, an animal cruelty charge for an adult offender carries a maximum penalty of a $2,000 fine or six months in jail, or both.

The petition push by Chaney and dozens of others after Daisey Duke's death originally sought about 10,000 signatures, but national interest in the case drew the response from more than 111,000 people.Paula James of Medicine Hat is one of the supporters

We've done what we could," said James.

"Now it's up to the politicians."

Chaney, who owns a dog grooming business in Didsbury, is hoping MPs consider adopting Bill C-373 and not Bill S-213 -- an amendment to current animal cruelty laws -- that critics say lacks teeth.Bill S-213, introduced by Senator John Bryden in April 2006, had its first reading in the Commons in December.

"My biggest fear is that they'll pick the other bill," said Chaney, adding she'll continue to fight for stronger animal rights.

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'll keep writing letters and on and on and on."

Thompson is expected to introduce the petition to the Commons around 1 p.m. MT.

The Herald was unable to reach Thompson on Sunday.

Haskett goes to trial on the charges May 23.