Windsor/Essex County Humane Society to continue welfare enforcement, investigations

The Windsor/Essex County Humane Society will continue to enforce animal welfare regulations for the next six months.

The Ontario SPCA stopped enforcing cruelty provisions in provincial legislation at the end of June. The provincial government allows "willing" humane societies to continue to enforce those laws — and the local humane society was willing.

"The humane society in Windsor wanted to ensure the transition was smooth and that no animals fell through the cracks," said executive director Melanie Coulter. 

"We are working with the government to continue this work until the end of the year."

The provincial governemnt plans to have a new act in place by January 2020. 

Coulter said the humane society would like to see a strong system that would provide consistent protections across the province. 

"There needs to be some consistency, whoever is doing it needs to have the proper training," said Coulter. "To just leave it to local police without proper training would make it difficult for them and harder for the community to protect the animals."