Saskatoon police taking more animal welfare calls since SPCA halted animal protection enforcement

A new city council report raises concerns about responding to animal cruelty complaints in Saskatoon. 

The Ministry of Agriculture appointed a non-profit agency called Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan (APSS) to enforce animal cruelty violations starting July 1 because the Saskatoon SPCA withdrew from animal protection services after the provincial government denied a funding request.

However, APSS only operates Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST, according to a city council report. 

That means no one is available to respond to animal cruelty complaints after hours or on weekends, while people used to be able to call SPCA 24/7 to report animal abuse.

"This change in service level has resulted in an increased in number of calls to the Saskatoon Police Service to respond to some of the animal cruelty and welfare complaints," City of Saskatoon general manager of community services Lynne Lacroix told city council on Monday. 

Other cities, including Regina, Edmonton and Calgary, provide cruelty investigations and animal protection services seven days a week. The APSS website has a form for people to report animal abuse.

There are no current plans to offer after-hours or weekend service similar to what was previously provided by the SPCA, according to the report.

Police don't have capacity to enforce Animal Protection Act

Saskatoon Police have received 62 calls for services related to animals or animal protection from April 1 to May 31 of this year, according to the report. 

"A number of these calls involved bylaw related issues and were properly referred to Saskatoon Animal Control Agency (SACA)," the report said.

"But several other calls involved animal neglect or animals in distress like a dog locked in a car, a problem that will become exacerbated as the summer weather continues and not matters within the current jurisdiction of enforcement for SACA."

Only one of the calls was related to animal cruelty, the report added.

Saskatoon SPCA said it investigated 865 reports of alleged animal abuse or neglect in 2021.

Ministry staff have told the city that concerns about animal cruelty or animal protection outside weekday hours should be referred to the Saskatoon police, the report said.

In a statement to CBC, police said they will always investigate animal cruelty cases but they do not have the equipment, training or shelter agreements in place to respond and enforce the Animal Protection Act.

Funding issues

The Saskatoon SPCA previously oversaw shelter, pound and animal protection services. Animal protection work was partially supported by the City of Saskatoon with a temporary grant and through donations.

According to the report, the grant was intended to provide support to the SPCA, and was "not intended to reflect the cost of providing the services."

The report says in the fall of 2021, the SPCA asked the city for extra funding, indicating it was experiencing financial difficulties.

The organization also asked the Ministry of Agriculture for funding but the ministry said no because of "the magnitude of the funding request," according to the report.

Without the funding the SPCA needed, it told the province and the city that it would be withdrawing enforcement of the Animal Protection Act. 

"It comes down to funding because we have a limited amount of staff and to cover these hours 24/7 a huge amount of funding is needed for that," Saskatoon SPCA acting executive director Trina Mortson said in an interview Monday. 

The organization continues to run a city pound and provide adoption services.

According to the city council report, the city "recognizes the importance" of animal protection services and the need for investigations.

"However, these investigations are under The Animal Protection Act … which is provincial legislation and responsibility for these investigations has not been delegated to the City under this legislation," the report said.

The Ministry of Agriculture says it sees animal welfare as a shared responsibility. 

"Collaboration continues to be important when it comes to effective investigation and enforcement," the ministry wrote in a statement. 

"The Ministry of Agriculture continues to work towards the safety and welfare of all animals in Saskatchewan and looks forward to continuing to work collaboratively with all agencies within the City of Saskatoon for the betterment of animal welfare."

The province also pointed out that it doubled funding to the APSS to $1.6 million in the 2022-2023 budget to expand animal welfare enforcement services.