Environmentalists hail decision to end practice in five years but aquaculture industry warns of 6,000 jobs at risk
The Canadian government has announced a decision to ban open-net pen salmon farming in British Columbia coastal waters in five years!
Fish farms keep fishes in crowded conditions that can lead to stress, disease, and the spread of parasites, which farms combat by relying heavily on antibiotics. Open-net fish farms pose a major problem for wild fishes because they allow waste, disease, and chemicals to seep out into the surrounding ecosystem.
Polling shows a majority of residents in British Columbia support ending open-net salmon farming, as have 120 First Nations.
The Ministry of Forests says the new scale of fines effective Tuesday under the Wildlife Act ranges from $345 to $1,495, up from the current range of $115 to $575.
“Fines for illegal hunting and fishing in British Columbia are more than doubling as the province cracks down on offences against wildlife.”
“The ministry says in a news release the new penalties ‘better reflect the serious nature’ of wildlife offences and acknowledge the importance of wildlife to B.C.”
Jesse Zeman, Executive Director of the B.C. Wildlife Federation, says the organization “applauds tougher penalties.”
Grassroots advocates have the power to mobilize communities and influence policies to improve animal well-being.
In this month’s episode of The Informed Animal Ally, two grassroots advocates share their experiences and the lessons they’ve learned in calling for change for animals.
Note: This written discussion has been edited for length.
Featured Guest: Barbara La Pointe
Librarian
Barbara has volunteered her time to several animal welfare projects in Canada and the United States since 1998. She is responsible for a national campaign asking Canada’s largest classifieds site to ban the commercial sale of animals on its site. This campaign has gained national media attention and the support of 464,000 individuals, 8 major corporations and 31 animal welfare organizations.
Featured Guest: Tessa Vanderkop
Director, Vancouver Humane Society
Tessa is a Social Purpose Strategist with the United Way Social Purpose Institute where she is helping business to become an engine for good in society. She is also a passionate conservationist and led the Ivory-Free Canada campaign with Elephanatics, which received support from more than 700,000 Canadians.
Amy: To start us off, I’d love to hear more about how you both became interested in animal advocacy.
How Barbara began advocating for companion animals
Barbara: I lived in the U. S. for seven years. And when I came back to Quebec in a small town located on the island of Montreal, I was floored to see that puppies and kittens were still being sold at the pet store at my local shopping center. So I wanted to change things.
That’s where it started for me.
How Tessa began advocating for elephants and wildlife
Tessa: I think I was born an animal lover. I mean, even as a kid, I had all my little stuffed animals and I would build veterinarians for them and get my mom’s tea cozies and cover them up and say goodnight every night to them.
So I think it was just the way I was born.
And then I was at work in Toronto and I was at the Toronto Convention Centre and one of the publishers at that time had decided to rent an elephant for a campaign. And this elephant was in this convention centre. When I still think about it, I get quite emotional.
I just remember looking at it and thinking, what the heck is going on here? It was just such a disconnect for me. And then it took me probably a few years to do something with that initial thing.
And then I found out that a circus was coming to Canada. And I remember at that time thinking, well, I know how to write. I know how to do publicity, so I’m just going to create as much trouble for the circus as I possibly can. And that’s what I did.
I just chased the circus across Canada and I would send press releases and information to town councils and the mayor. I’d alert local TV and media. And I’d try and reach out to local advocacy groups.
And that was sort of the beginning of connecting a passion with skills that I thought I had.
Amy: That’s so lovely. What a great start to advocacy, but challenging things to have to deal with.
Campaigning for animals
Amy: We heard both of your backgrounds at the beginning of the episode, but I’d like to ask each of you to speak a little bit more about the campaigns you’ve worked on, provide more details, maybe some challenges and successes.
Barbara’s campaigns for companion animals
Barbara: When my local shopping center was still selling cats and dogsat the pet store, I started to attend every council town council meeting in 2012. Every month I went to encourage my city to adopt a bylaw requiring that dogs and cats and rabbits sold in pet store to be sterilized and be sourced from animal shelters.
So I started in 2012 and the bylaw was finally adopted in 2015. So I had started to learn to be patient at that time.
And it’s during those town council meetings that several town councilors kept coming back with the argument that we could not adopt such a bylaw for pet stores or combat pet overpopulation as breeders will still continue to sell animals online on classified sites.
Advocating to stop pet sales on Kijiji
Barbara: So in the summer of 2013, I decided to research the topic and the problems associated with the sale of animals on Kijiji, Canada’s most popular classified site. And I launched a campaign, so it’s been over 10 years now with Kijiji.
The problem that I found was that classified sites were unable to distinguish responsible breeders from breeders who, without regard for animal welfare and the buyer, profit from the sale of animals.
So over the past 10 years, I’ve collected numerous media stories of sick puppies and kittens sold on Kijiji. I gathered testimonials from disappointed Kijiji users, the comments from veterinarians and animal shelters to demonstrate that yes, there are too many buyers that continue to be cheated by unscrupulous and unethical breeders on classified sites like Kijiji.
Too many animals suffering from health problems, often due to rearing and breeding conditions, are sold on this site. That leads to veterinary costs to new guardians and inflicts them with unnecessary emotional and financial stress.
So that’s what me and 465,000 individuals who signed this petition want; we want the leader of Canada’s classified site, Kijiji, to set an example. Animals should not be sold on this site.
Puppy meals and unethical breeders may continue to exist, even if Kijiji Canada stops the sale of animals, but at least they will not give them an easy platform to thrive on. So that’s the goal of this campaign.
Chantelle: That’s such an important message, especially when we’re seeing so much overpopulation and overcrowding in the shelter and rescue system.
There’s so many animals out there who need homes.
Tessa’s advocacy for wildlife
Amy: Tessa, can you share more about the background of the campaign that you’ve been working on?
Tessa: Yeah, for sure. After chasing the circus around for a couple of years, I woke up one morning and I’d heard about a group called the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos.
They were based out of the United States and they organized kind of a global awareness day about the threats facing wildlife in Africa, so elephants and lions and rhinos and so forth. It was a call to action to organize an event. And so I woke up and was like, I’m going to organize an event.
I just Googled elephant advocacy Vancouver. And I found Fran Duthie, who is the founder of Elephanatics. We joined forces and we organized, along with Leanne Fogarty, a number of those annual marches.
And then it was only after the last one where I think we were like, okay, so this is great. We have people coming out to these, but what are we really doing?
And so that’s when we switched tactics. And we really looked at how Canada was enabling the sale of ivory and what that was doing and rhino horn.
Stopping the import of ivory and rhino horn in Canada
Tessa: We pivoted our advocacy towards getting the government to change the actual regulations around importing elephant ivory and rhino horn.
We started with a letter to then-minister Catherine McKenna and it was actually Marylee Davies who said, well, maybe you could get a couple of signatures from other like-minded organizations.
So she gave me some names of some people. We added those names to the letter, but then my colleagues, Fran and Leanne just kind of went crazy. It’s like, well, if we can get three signatures, why can’t we get more? We got a hundred signatures for that letter globally.
So for every letter we wrote, we had this activated network that was willing to support what we were looking for.
And later on, that ended up being quite helpful.
Fran had started our Facebook page. She went out and learned everything about social media. We have 20,000 followers on the Elephanatics Facebook page.
And then Leanne said, well, why don’t we do a petition? And we’re like, yeah, okay, let’s do the petition. We’ll probably get like a hundred signatures, like a thousand signatures.
And that’s when we really started understanding that Canadians did not want, and did not know that we still allowed the legal trade of ivory. So we ended up getting like a thousand signatures, easily, 10,000, and then 20,000, we were like, holy smokes, what is going on?
And that’s when it just kept growing. That Change.org petition is over 700,000 now.
And so that’s not the end of the campaign. We ended up collaborating with other organizations, but that was definitely when we knew we were zeroing in on something.
Chantelle: Wow, that is so impressive. I think it’s so inspiring that it just takes that first spark of identifying that there’s something wrong and just look how much you can accomplish.
Successes in grassroots animal advocacy
Chantelle: I would love to hear more about the successes that you’ve both seen from your work.
Spayed and neutered rescue pets for adoption
Barbara: Yes. With the pet store bylaw, like I said, after three years of campaigning, going to monthly council meetings and writing open letters in the newspapers, asking residents to send an email to counselors, my city finally adopted the bylaw that dogs, cats and rabbits sold in pet stores must be sterilized and be sourced from animal shelters.
We were one of the first cities actually in Quebec to have such bylaw. So that was a great success.
Trap, Neuter, Return, Maintain for community cats
Barbara: Another campaign I worked on is after adopting three stray cats that were roaming in my backyard, I went again to town council meetings asking them this time to implement a Trap, Neuter, Return, Maintain program (TNRM) for community cats.
Again with the help of residents, same thing, same council meetings, open letters and newspapers asking residents to send letters. The program was implemented in 2019 in my small town and is still running today.
It’s fun to see neighbors who still ask me about the program and want to get their permits and stuff like that.
Progress for classified sites
As far as Kijiji, Kijiji today is still selling animals on its site, but I would say that my petition has gathered over 465,000 signatures so far. I see it as a success because it’s 465,000 individuals who are aware of the issue surrounding animals sold on classified sites.
That’s 465,000 individuals who are discussing this matter with a family member, a friend, or a coworker. And that’s 465,000 individuals not buying animals on classified sites.
It’s day by day driving the public discourse to a point where politicians are increasingly compelled to take concrete actions when it comes to the sale of animals on classified sites.
I would like also to add that the classified site Used.ca, based in British Columbia, banned profiting from household pets in 2015. They commented that the Kijiji petition was one of their motivators behind the decision, so this petition is also helping others, other companies, businesses, and individuals to base their decision on, so to me, it’s a success.
Amy: Thanks so much for sharing those. I think something that I end up having a hard time with in advocacy is when you have big goals, seeing all the intermediary steps as successes. It’s so easy to get a feeling of sort of like, Oh, but this one thing hasn’t happened, but it’s so good to see sort of like the process of getting there.
And particularly what Barbara brought up around public attitude change. The only way you’re going to see legal change is when you have really the vast majority of the public on side.
Partnerships in advocacy
Amy: Partnerships play a big role in getting the public on side. Can you speak to the partnerships you’ve made to advance your work for animals?
Tessa: I think it’s so interesting that Barbara, that you use your town council as the muscle for change, because I used to sit on one of the city of Burnaby’s sustainability committee, and it was really always interesting to me that it does make a difference, I think, using those tools as a way of driving change.
Reaching out to the company first
Barbara: For the pet store, I always ask the company first. I went ahead and I wrote a letter to the pet storeabout the problems and when they said no, that’s where I had to go step up somewhere else. That’s why I went to see my town council for that, but always ask communication first with the company.
I did this same thing with Kijiji before I started the petition. I wrote to them just to make sure that they were aware of the problem and there was no action. Then I said, well, I’m going to start a petition. I warned them in advance. I did the same thing at the town council meeting.
I think I’m really believe in open communication with your decision-makers.
Tessa: Yeah, I completely agree. Make friends, not enemies, right? I think is the key and build partnerships as much as you possibly can.
Finding unexpected allies in advocacy
Tessa: I would just add that we had hit a little bit of a roadblock. By this point, we had actually been approached by Humane Society International, Michael Bernard. They had already done a lot of work behind the scenes and had hit a wall, but our petition and our Facebook page and our letters, I think we managed to sort of build that grassroots kind of awareness for the issue.
I had an MP knock at my door and we ended up building a relationship and I educated him quite a bit about what was happening with elephants and the laws in Canada. He was really amazing. He just said, I will do what I can to galvanize some people behind the scenes; and he did exactly that.
One of the things that I’ve learned is you have to be open to talking to everybody because as an advocate, you’re that voice, and that voice and that story needs to be told. Because how else does it happen?
So you’d find me anywhere talking about elephants in the most unusual situations and you find unusual allies in that way.
Chantelle: Those partnerships are so important.
Tessa: Yeah, we would never have been able to do it. The ivory ban has been implemented by the way, it was implemented this January, but we would never have been able to do it without the help.
We worked very collaboratively with Humane Society International, and we had built a larger coalition with some other grassroots organizations, Global March for Elephants and Rhinos Toronto, Heather Craig and Janine Cavin from Elephant and Rhino Defenders, and Patricia Sims from World Elephant Day.
We all worked together, including initially Jane Goodall Canada. So I would say for us as Elephanatics in a grassroots organization, you would never, ever be able to do it. We could have tried it on our own, but, but I think it really takes collaboration.
Chantelle: Absolutely. And that’s so important because everyone who’s advocated for animals knows that there’s so many barriers to persuading decision makers to prioritize compassion for other species. So just having as many voices as possible doing that advocacy work is so important.
Barbara, could you also speak to some of your partnerships that you’ve made in your advocacy work?
Barbara: Of course. At the beginning, it was easy to get 30 animal rescue groups and shelters to sign up for the petitions like Humane Canada, Humane Society International Canada, the BC SPCA, the Winnipeg Humane Society, all those big societies and small shelters and big shelters.
But sometimes you find support in unexpected places.
Over the years, the Kijiji campaign has been endorsed by some of the largest banks, websites and telecommunication providers in the country because they were publishing ads on Kijiji pet sale pages. So I either directly wrote to those companies or I had the help of signers to write to them.
TD Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Toyota Canada, Tangerine Bank, National Bank of Canada, and TELUS have all pulled their ads off Kijiji pet sale pages in support of this campaign.
So yes, partnership is very important. And then when write to Kijiji, I tell them that, of course, but also tell the government about this. It also helps that it’s not only individuals, but also big companies and more shelters and rescue groups that support this campaign.
Tessa: Yeah. I can’t emphasize that enough, actually. Like you can find support in such unlikely places. Like for example, Mike Farnworth, who is the Minister of Safety, showed up to our marches and would come and support us and buy t-shirts and make donations. You just have no idea who’s an ally and who’s that real believer in wildlife justice and equity.
So I think that’s really key, just being really open minded, even when you feel beleaguered.
Chantelle: Absolutely. That’s absolutely true. We work with people in all sorts of industries in our work, and there’s so many people across so many types of jobs that are really passionate about animals.
Challenges in advocacy
Chantelle: Could you both speak to some of the challenges you faced in your advocacy?
Be flexible
Barbara: Last summer, when I asked Kijiji to have a human moderation team carefully reviewing at all pets ads and ensuring compliance with the policies, they turned me down again.
So I had to look for another solution. So I read and looked back at my campaign material and saw the comment from Used.ca when they banned the profiting from household pets across the entire network. The comment said that websites like ours are not qualified or capable of regulating the breeding of pets.
So it made me think, no one can better regulate pets. I saw this as a challenge.
I contacted every office of the Minister of Agriculture or relevant ministers in each province and territory in Canada to learn about the laws regulating dogs and cat breeders. I discovered that only the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick require licenses for dog and cat breeders.
So government permits could be the solution to regulating the sale of animals on classified sites. Maybe breeders permits are the way to go. If breeders are issued permits from the government, it may not guarantee that these breeders are conscientious or ethical, but it provides more protection to buyers since these breeders have licenses and can be easily traced. If a problem occurs, it allows for the government to make these breeders responsible and to comply with a certain standard of care, to inspect them or even sanction them, all of which Kijiji and classified sites cannot do.
So yes, when I’m faced with a challenge, don’t despair, go back, look around, be flexible, and maybe you have to change your strategy for the best outcome.
Find another way through
Tessa: Yeah, I completely agree with that. I always think of it as water over rocks; you’ve got to find a way through, one way or the other.
We were dealing with Mr. McKenna’s office and we weren’t getting anywhere. And I think there are times when you just have to realize that it’s just not going to happen in that way. So what else do you do? And in those instances, you know, we would try and find other allies.
So, you know Terry Beech was super helpful in finding allies and then really focusing on the Change.org petition and really raising awareness.
And then also because we were a grassroots organization, when the CITES negotiations would come up, we would really look at how Canada actually voted on all the different issues and report back out publicly on what that looks like.
I think a lot of the public just doesn’t understand how that world works and why would they, right? It’s not everyone’s job to do that, but there is sort of a systemic kind of way of keeping the world working in a “business as usual” way, and we needed to change that. So I think you just find other tactics to say, let’s take this kind of closed world and make it a little bit more open and share with people what this looks like and what they can do.
So that’s when we ended up using New Mode and doing a big MP letter-writing campaign because we’re like, well, we can’t get anywhere with the minister because they don’t care or they don’t have time or there’s some other issues. So let’s just write letters. And so we ended up getting 7,000 letters written to MPs all across the country.
And so then the minister has to respond because the MPs are writing her office saying what’s going on. So I think, like Barbara said, you’ve got to be flexible, you have to be open minded, you can’t be deterred.
Don’t give up
Barbara: I just want to say that don’t be discouraged. I was talking with a friend, she was talking about the podcast her husband was listening to. I listened to the podcast and brought me somewhere else, brought me to a story about credit cards having a policy cutting off adult sites. So I said, you know, why did they do it for the adult sites? Maybe they could also do it for classified sites for animals.
So I contacted all those credit card companies. It didn’t work out. They didn’t budge.
But even though it was a challenge, you always learn something. You know how to write better, how to influence better, negotiate better, every step of the way.
You learn new things outside your topic. But it brings you somewhere else and you go from there.
Know your audience
Tessa: I would completely agree with what Barbara just said. You have to understand a multitude of different audiences.
And so when I first started, I was marching in the streets with signs. I think that’s super necessary on some level, but I think not everyone is going to respond to that kind of advocacy and you have to be willing to learn and change and develop what I would call, and I find it almost offensive, but you know, the business case for why we should not be trading an elephant ivory. You have to be able to talk to people about numbers.
I think when you believe so passionately in something, it’s hard to strip that back and say, okay, well, this is how we have to approach this. But that’s your job is to do that. You’ve got to be dispassionate in your passion.
Barbara: Yeah, I totally agree with you, Tessa. It worked with me with council.
When I brought the numbers, it made a change. It’s sad, but money drives people. Money drives those cities and businesses and so we have to bring it to that level.
Lessons from animal advocates
Amy: I appreciate all the insights that you’re both sharing. It is absolutely step by step; it’s uncovering every little piece of what makes an issue.
These are some great lessons that you’ve learned. Are there any other lessons you’ve learned that you can share from your work?
Storytelling is key
Tessa: I was just thinking about things that helped us. As you say, Amy, if these are all really complex systemic issues, and how do you distill it to something that continues to engage the public and get that support?
And so I think the communications piece and the storytelling piece is so essential, like, how do you tell these stories? How do you continue to bring people along? Because I think it’s a lot to ask the general public to understand the complexities of everything, but what are ways and tools that we can use?
People in our community came up with these really easy to see graphics that told the story very quickly about what was happening to Africa’s elephant population. And so that became very shareable on social media.
And it’s just those kinds of things. How do we go from us to everyone else and what is the best way and the most compelling way and true way to tell the story that can gain traction.
So I’d say that that’s also something to really think about.
Communicate with the decision-makers you’re working to persuade
Barbara: Communication is very important. No matter how frustrating it can be, it can feel like you’re not being listened to, it’s better to partner with the people you want to change.
I’m proud to have open communication with Kijiji. That communication has led to improvements like the credit card verification requirements they did at the beginning in 2014 or 2015.
Official responses from your decision-makers help show that they are engaged and can guide you in choosing a path forward because you can find information on what they say and always keep learning about your petition topic, in and out and outside your topic.
Without that, you wouldn’t learn about new arguments to take to bring onto the table or know if ending pet sales was necessary and if Kijiji’s incremental changes have solved the problems; and they haven’t. So continue, never stop.
Tessa: I would completely agree with everything that Barbara said. When we started, Terry Beach, our MP, reached out to Minister Wilkinson and basically brought all of his senior policy people to a meeting with Terry and the minister to meet with Elephanatics and Humane Society International Coalition to talk about the elephant issue.
There were some really tough questions and the minister had to ask those questions. I totally understand that, but it’s collaborating with like minded people on all sides of the table, that’s how you make it. happen. You have to bring people along.
And to that point, there was a local a sale at an auction house of wildlife parts, including ivory and rhino horn. And people were outraged. They said, you have to talk to them.
I ended up just having this incredible conversation with the person who owned the auction house. And I think when we both left that conversation, I would say that we both would be able to have another conversation again and be able to continue that conversation because you can’t alienate people. You have to bring them along with you as best as you can. And so I think that’s really key.
Find support where you can
Chantelle: That’s an amazing point. My mind keeps coming back to your water over rocks analogy, Tessa, because there’s so many points where you can encounter resistance to change. And the more you take other routes and change public opinion and change policy and laws, the more these resistant sectors are going to have to keep up. It’s kind of like you’re slowly eroding the rocks.
Tessa: Oh, absolutely. And I think most people want to do the right thing. I don’t think everyone knows how systemically complex it is or why. And so you have to build that kind of emotional, I can do something and I will do something, and keep that conversation going and you’ll win more of those people over.
It’s a long process, but it’s really important to keep your eye on the ball.
Chantelle: Yeah. Just very slowly bringing the practice around; “this is the way things have always been done” isn’t a good enough reason to keep doing them that way.
Thinking of becoming a grassroots advocate?
Chantelle: Is there any final advice that you would give to people who are interested in taking those first steps into getting involved with grassroots advocacy?
Ask for support
Barbara: Ask support from anyone, people, companies, businesses. Like Tessa said, we never know where we’re going to find support in unexpected places.
Create Google alerts
Barbara: Create Google alerts relating to your campaign. You want to be aware because you can’t read all the news everywhere, but Google alerts have been really helpful for me.
Never give up
Barbara: And most importantly, never give up. I’ve been at this for a decade, but every minute of it has been worth it for the animals and the people who love them.
I always think about this at times when Kijiji says, no, no, no, no, no. I go to bed and I think of all the people who signed this, I’m going to back them up. I’m going to be there. I’m going to continue. So think about the people and the animals behind the petition. Never, never stop. Don’t give up.
Tessa: Yeah, I couldn’t agree more.
Remember your “why”
Tessa: I think what has motivated me, although I’ve worked on ivory and not elephants in captivity, but that elephant in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre changed me fundamentally as a person. And so everything I do for that poor elephant.
I think it’s not work if you’re passionate and you match it with your skills and you say, I’m going to do one thing every day.
Next episode
Please join us next month as we discuss the sucesses, opportunities, and challenges faced by animal shelters and rescues in British Columbia.
Plan to reduce human-coyote conflict in Vancouver’s Stanley Park is under fire after critics say trapping could pose a threat to public safety.
An undisclosed research program to trap coyotes using drop nets, neck snares and leg-hold traps in Stanley Park poses a threat to public safety.
“Aaron Hofman, director of advocacy and policy at the non-profit The Fur-Bearers, said that by failing to disclose the plan to the public, the City of Vancouver is putting workers, park-goers, pets and unhoused individuals at serious risk of injury.”
The Fur-Bearers are urging anyone concerned about this plan to contact the University of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver.
There are many ways that human activities, infrastructure, and policies impact wild animals. On this month’s episode of The Informed Animal Ally, the Vancouver Humane Society’s Amy Morris and Chantelle Archambault discuss the ways in which animal allies can speak up for wildlife.
Note: This written discussion has been edited for length.
Chantelle: Last month we talked about farmed animals and went through their natural behaviours species by species. This month will be a little different, since we’re talking about wildlife and there are so many species.
Amy: Before we get into it, I want to touch on an important piece of background for this discussion. Conservation is a topic that comes up a lot when people talk about wild animals, but it’s often about preserving the species and maintaining biodiversity, without looking at the well-being of individual animals. The lens we’ll be using today is compassionate conservation, which includes the guiding principles:
First, do no harm
Individuals matter
Inclusivity
Peaceful coexistence between animals and humans
Throughout this episode we’ll be talking about ways you can help protect wild animals from the threats they face, and it’s important to bear in mind through all these advocacy actions that the goal is to treat wildlife with respect, justice, and compassion, and to allow them to thrive. There is a great infographic on this.
Urban wildlife
Chantelle: Absolutely, thanks so much Amy. Now that we’ve covered that, I think it makes sense to start with a brief overview of some of the ways humans interact with wild animals. When we think of most people’s day-to-day interactions with wild animals, many people living in cities, towns, or suburbs will think about urban wildlife. Urban wildlife refers to animals who have adapted to survive alongside humans and the infrastructure we’ve developed. Those adaptations can include taking advantage of new food sources, like garbage or some types of plants, or building their nests in human-made structures.
Amy: Urban wildlife may show signs of being habituated, or unafraid of, people. This happens over time as they encounter situations that feel safer and safer; alternately, they find ways to navigate in the human world that avoids people entirely. Just like with humans, wild animals will be afraid of what they don’t know, and comfortable with anything that feels familiar and safe.
Some urban wildlife are considered synanthropic species, which means they thrive in human environments. Think of adaptations like pigeons nesting in buildings and eating dropped food, squirrels living in trees from parks and gardens, rats commonly living in sewers or buildings. Some people consider these species to be “pests” because living in such close proximity can lead to human-wildlife conflict.
Other urban wildlife often live alongside humans in urban environments, but they aren’t as dependent on human activities to survive. If you think of an animal like coyotes, they’re generally considered an opportunistic species so they can exploit the resources in human environments like eating small animals, fruits and vegetables, or garbage; but they can also survive in a more natural landscape. They’re also typically more wary of humans.
Threats to urban wildlife
Chantelle: That brings us to talking about some of the threats urban wildlife can face. You mentioned human-wildlife conflict and that’s something that can have a very negative impact on animals. Generally, conflict arises when animals are causing damage like chewing walls, making messes like knocking over garbage bins, or if they’re posing a threat or perceived threat to human or pet safety, such as skunks nesting below a shed and the people who live in the home being afraid of their dog being sprayed. In those situations, the outcome for the animal is usually very negative or even deadly. Often animals are killed—two issues that have been really top of mind over the past year are rodent poisons and culls.
Amy: I can speak more to the poison issue. Rodenticides, or rodent poisons cause a great deal of suffering to animals. There are a few different categories of poisons which we spoke about in our wildlife episode with Erin Ryan last year, so please listen to that episode if you’d like more details.
Essentially, poisons don’t work immediately and cause animals to die slowly and painfully. Anticoagulant rodenticides work by thinning the blood so animals die by bleeding out or hemorrhaging. Those are the poisons most often used in Canada.
There are also other poisons like neurotoxins, which cause the nervous system to shut down so animals can experience symptoms painful and scary symptoms like weakness, loss of coordination, convulsions, and respiratory distress.
We’ve had some progress here in B.C. with permanent restrictions on second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs), which are some of the most dangerous poisons and also some of the most likely to cause secondary poisoning to predator or scavenger animals, like owls or eagles, who eat poisoned rodents; but there are still exceptions where those poisons can be used.
First-generation anticoagulants and other poisons are also still allowed.
Chantelle: Several municipalities have taken the compassionate step of banning all rodenticides on the city or town property. A great way to advocate for animals harmed by poisons is to ask your Council or the building manager where you live or work to commit to poison-free methods.
There are also government sanctioned culls of animals. The Vancouver Park Board recently approved a plan that includes the option of killing geese to control their populations, which is inhumane and unnecessary. Evidence shows that habitat modification is a more effective long-term method. There was also the coyote cull in Vancouver’s Stanley Park in 2021 that happened after people reported coyotes approaching and biting them. In total, 13 coyotes were killed. This could have been prevented if better methods were implemented to prevent the feeding of animals in the park and remove attractants like garbage that draw coyotes toward human areas.
How you can help urban wildlife
Amy: Prevention is the best and most effective method of dealing with conflict with wildlife. You can prevent animals like rodents from entering buildings by sealing up access points and removing or sealing away food and other attractants.
The most important thing we can do is to make sure wildlife continue to be afraid of anything that might hurt them. This is why it is so crucial to not feed wildlife. If you feed wildlife, they start to see people as a source of food. They also can become dependent on the food being provided and then if it is removed, they can become aggressive. We would do the same if we were fed regularly and then suddenly all the food was gone, with nothing available to us… I have been around some pretty “hangry” people and I imagine it can get pretty bad when an animal feels truly desperate from their hunger.
Chantelle: Absolutely. Another way people deal with wildlife conflict is by trapping and relocating animals. This method still isn’t perfect because it causes stress to animals and can introduce new risks to animals if their social structures are disrupted, if they come into conflict over territory or if they have difficulty finding resources in their new environment.
Amy: Other threats that are more common for urban wildlife include animals being hit by vehicles, urban development infringing on their habitats and resources, and noise and light pollution which can disrupt their natural behaviours and communication.
Native wildlife
Threats to native wildlife in British Columbia and beyond
Amy: Wild animals, including those outside cities are also impacted by climate change which can affect their habitat, temperature regulation, resources like food and water, and behaviours like migration patterns.
Chantelle: One thing that a lot of Canada has been dealing with is forest fires. Temperatures are rising and precipitation patterns are changing, which means we’re seeing an increase in both fire-prone conditions and flooding at different times and in different areas. Forest fires and floods directly cause the deaths of animals who are caught in them. They also destroy habitats and displace animals, making it more difficult for them to survive and maintain their social dynamics.
Amy: Speaking of habitat destruction, there is natural habitat destruction, and there is also human-caused destruction of habitats like deforestation.
Logging is a major industry here in B.C. Although some considerations are in place for a few protected species, many animals like squirrels and birds end up losing their homes.
Logging roads that haven’t been decommissioned after use also make prey animals more vulnerable to predators.
Particularly, caribou have been significantly affected by the destruction of forests and the creation of logging roads because it provides wolves easier access to the caribou, leading to declines in caribou populations. Rather than addressing the root issue, which is habitat destruction, the B.C. government has been carrying out a wolf cull since 2015 that involves shooting wolves from helicopters. So now we have a situation where both caribou and wolves are suffering.
We know that both caribou and wolves have complex dynamics, including unique family structures. When wolves are killed it impacts their entire family. Just like humans, they have the ability to feel loss and must grieve these sudden deaths as they struggle to survive.
How you can help native wildlife
Amy: To be an active ally for the caribou and the wolves, you can:
Advocate for stronger wildlife protection laws, including the decommissioning of forestry roads and better forest restoration management
Share about the importance of compassionate conservation, recognizing that well-being isn’t just about biodiversity, but about the well-being of the individual animal and their communities.
Avoid having fires during fire bans, and carefully dispose of any cigarettes and be careful in the backcountry using machinery that causes sparks
Fishes
Chantelle: We can’t talk about wildlife behaviour without talking about the ocean’s most populous wildlife – fishes! You can check out our podcast just about fishes, but there are a few key points I’d like to touch on here. Fishes demonstrate many different behaviours, the same way that species on land do. Some live in schools, but others are solitary. There are even some interspecies friendships of fishes that are mutually beneficial. Fishes, just like mammals, end up having lice and benefit from grooming. Some fish travel long distances, while others exist in small habitats and focus on protecting their homes. There are more than 33,000 different types of fish species.
Threats to fishes
Amy: Some of the threats faced by fishes include fish farms, where diseases from captive fish populations can get into wild species. Fish farms are often densely packed, which don’t allow fish to swim and forage the way they would naturally.
Fishes are also threatened by pollution. While the physical pollution is a problem, such as plastics, some of the biggest harms include the waste product that runs off of intensive agriculture, such as keeping cows and pigs. This can cause harmful algae blooms in the water, which is often called ‘red tide’ for the different tone it gives the water. In areas with red tide, fish are poisoned and die. Animals like turkey vultures can be impacted as well as they eat the fish that have died from the harmful algae blooms.
How you can help fishes
Chantelle: The best and biggest impact that we as individuals can make is to take fishes and other animals off our plates. Consumption of animals for food is driving these complex issues that are causing significant physical suffering to both individual fishes and entire species.
Wild and exotic animals kept in captivity
Amy: The behaviour of animals that are kept in captivity varies from enriched and engaged, to, most commonly, bored and repetitive. Just like we seek out ways for indoor cats to have full enjoyment of their spaces, including building catios and providing different toys, treats, and play, wild animals need access to spaces and activities that make their lives worthwhile.
While the best thing is for wild animals to be free, sometimes they end up in captivity and don’t have the skills or capacity to care for themselves in the wild. Unfortunately, facilities that house wildlife in captivity often lack the staffing and capital resources to provide spaces for animals that ensure their needs are met. For example, some animals are not provided the opportunity to hide from public view, or the temperatures in their outdoor enclosure are too cold for their normal body temperature. Incidents regularly occur of people getting bitten, or animals becoming depressed and dying at ages far younger than their wild counterparts.
If you have observed animals in captivity, you know it can be a strange experience. Seeing the animals themselves can provide a sense of beauty, but juxtaposed against barren enclosures, cages, and pacing, bar licking, and other maladaptive behaviours, these spaces can feel downright uncomfortable. I once visited a facility where the bears were made to perform; that facility is still running today. Last year, when a bear died after 19 years of performing, the facility claimed that the bear loved making people laugh and was happiest in front of a crowd. It is common for facilities to anthropomorphize wild animal behaviours in order to make people feel at ease and buy into the experience they are seeking.
Chantelle: It’s so sad to think about and it’s easy for people to forget, because usually visitors to places like this will only be seeing the animal for a few minutes but this is the animal’s entire life day in and day out. I find it wild that animals are still being kept for use in entertainment, particularly the film and tv industry! I would have thought that would be phased out with the amazing technology we have. There have been a few really major films that came out recently where animals played a large role but thankfully they were all computer generated. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case and animals kept for performing are often kept in small cages and deal with frequent travel. Their lives are akin to that of research animals in terms of the degree of confinement, but even more stressful because their environment is constantly changing and they are around unfamiliar people.
Mobile exotic animal petting zoos are similar. The animals have to deal with frequent transportation, being kept in small cages, and being handled. Despite the risks around salmonella, reptiles are a popular choice for this because they are slow to get away. However, for them, it can be quite uncomfortable to be handled. Not only might it be uncomfortable, but it’s also very important for reptiles to regulate their own temperature; and the conditions they are kept and handled in do not allow them to do that.
Amy: While we know that it isn’t ideal to keep animals in captivity, the solutions are complicated. Zoos and aquariums try to argue in favour of letting animals breed as a way to exhibit natural behaviours, but then the off-spring often die or are forced into a life of captivity. Since such a sparse patchwork of laws exists for animals in captivity, their ability to express natural behaviours outside of breeding is equally sparse. Laws around wildlife in captivity are made at the provincial and local level. Advocating for these beautiful animals can include asking the provincial government to better protect them through limiting captive breeding, putting an end to using wild animals for any kind of entertainment, and asking the federal government to put very strict limitations on the importation of exotic wildlife.
Chantelle: Yeah, that’s an interesting argument because it feels very convenient that zoos will argue in favour of animals expressing their natural behaviours when it’s about breeding, which is something that allows them to draw in more people to see the new animals and keep making money, but not when it’s about moving the animals to a climate that’s more appropriate for them. It’s very important to look at those arguments critically and see how they’re being used to maintain the status quo and make more money rather than do what’s best for the long-term well-being of the animals.
How to help wildlife
Amy: We typically end these episodes on the question of what you can do in your own advocacy work to help animals. We’ve certainly touched on a lot of actions throughout the episode, but here are some of the biggest takeaways.
Help wild animals stay wild by not feeding them
When law changes around wild animals come up, speak with your representatives like your MP or your MLA about compassionate conservation and the importance of considering individual animals’ well-being
Support and share ways of learning about animals that don’t involve keeping wild animals in captivity
Next episode
Please join us next month as we discuss the Vancouver Humane Society’s findings on the attitudes and benefits around plant-based eating!
In the award-winning documentary My Octopus Teacher, filmmaker and Sea Change Project co-founder Craig Foster says, “A lot of people say an octopus is like an alien. But the strange thing is, as you get closer to them, you realize that we’re very similar in a lot of ways.”
As one octopus develops a complex friendship with Foster, the film demonstrates how intelligent, curious, and sensitive these animals can be.
Industry stakeholders seem to be relying on the perceived otherness of octopuses to enable consumers to look the other way as they begin to establish the first inhumane octopus farms, even as our society is increasingly critical of cruel intensive animal agriculture practices. Thousands of animal advocates and allies across the world have spoken out to agree: it’s not working.
Earlier this week, reports of horrific plans for the world’s first octopus farm began making their way across the media cycle after confidential planning proposal documents were released to the BBC by the organization Eurogroup for Animals.
Rows of barren tanks at Kanaloa Octopus Farm in Hawaii each confine a single octopus who was caught from the wild. Laura Lee Cascada / The Every Animal Project / We Animals Media.
The farm, which is planned to open in Spain’s Canary Islands by multinational corporation Nueva Pescanova, will be a nightmare for octopuses.
In the wild, common octopuses—the species set to be farmed, and the species featured in My Octopus Teacher—are typically solitary animals who are highly territorial. They spend time interacting with their environment, in which they are capable of using complex problem-solving skills and tools. They hunt a varied diet of many marine species, usually at night. They are accustomed to the dark and prefer making their home in crevices where they can easily hide.
By contrast, Nueva Pescanova’s intensive farming plans would keep octopuses in crowded communal tanks, at times under constant light, where they would be unable to express their natural behaviours such as hiding and hunting. The animals would be defenceless as they would be raised and picked off for human consumption.
Content warning: This image depicts the bodies of deceased octopuses at a processing plant. (Click to expand)
A worker at a processing plant, processes octopus bodies with water through specific machines to make them turgid for sale. Selene Magnolia / We Animals Media.
Plans also note that octopuses will be killed by “ice slurry,” which has been identified as a painful and stressful death for the fish on whom it is currently used. The aquaculture industry has already begun shifting away from this slaughter method, including a requirement in the National Farm Animal Care Council’s (NFACC) Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Farmed Salmonids to transition to acceptable methods by 2025.
If we could have stopped industrial-scale animal farming before it began, the reality for animals would look very different now. Industrial animal agriculture has been called the biggest animal welfare crisis on the planet, with more than 70 billion land animals killed for food each year.
Content warning: This image depicts the bodies of deceased octopuses at a processing plant. (Click to expand)
Octopus bodies at a processing plant. Selene Magnolia / We Animals Media.
The Sentience Institute estimates that 74% of farmed land animals and virtually all farmed fishes are currently on factory farms, which are characterized by large numbers of animals confined in cramped, barren and unnatural conditions. Many of these animals are never given the opportunity to see the sky, smell fresh air free of the scent of ammonia, or feel the grass.
In Canada alone, 825 million land animals were killed in 2021. The number of farmed aquatic animals who are killed in Canada is so enormous that they are counted by weight rather than lives: 191,249 tonnes of finned fish and shellfish in 2021.
The Canadian animal agriculture industry has been the face of numerous scandals over the past decade, as undercover footage revealed live chickens with their legs ripped off, dairy cows cornered and beaten with canes, and conscious sheep flailing about with their necks cut open.
While we can do our collective best to decrease the demand for animal products and address the terrible suffering that industrially farmed animals endure, we sadly cannot go back in time to save the millions of lives squandered in misery, awaiting a painful and terrifying end.
However, we can prevent this tragic fate for octopuses. A federal petition calling on the government to ban the breeding, keeping, and import of farmed octopuses and other cephalopod species in Canada has already amassed more than 10,000 signatures.
The decision is simple, and it must be made now: before another species is subjected to horrific suffering; before cephalopod farms are established; before the federal government must contend with industry interests and try to unring yet another bell of cruel treatment. For the sake of protecting these intelligent, complex animals, sign the petition today.
Panago Pizza team members deliver plant-based pizzas to the Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary.
VANCOUVER, November 25, 2022 – The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) and the Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary are teaming up to help animals now and in the future with the generous support of Panago Pizza! On Giving Tuesday, November 29th, customers can get a $10 large plant-based pizza from any Panago location in BC using code: PLANT10. $1 from every plant-based pizza purchased will be donated toward the two charities.
Panago offers 5 plant-based pizza recipes and continues to grow their plant-based choices as part of their long-term commitment to sustainability. Visit panago.com/our-values to learn more.
This year, the support of donations toward animals is needed more than ever. Nonprofits are struggling to meet the needs of the animals they help. Diane Marsh from the Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary explains that costs of hay have doubled and vet visits have increased by almost 40%; they “have risen dramatically due to the fires, floods and supply chain issues.”
The Happy Herd will use funds raised this Giving Tuesday to cover essential supplies to keep the animals in their care healthy and safe; animals like Mousse, a goat whom they rescued this year at just one week old. Mousse arrived at the Happy Herd quite ill having been rejected by his mother. He has since flourished and lives his life with Linus the sheep and Pickles the pig.
Mousse the goat at the Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary in April 2022.
Funds raised will also help to cover the VHS’s essential programs and advocacy work. This includes helping to decrease the demand for industrial animal agriculture by supporting a shift toward increased plant-based options in municipal concession stands, schools, long-term care homes, and more.
Funds will also help programs such as the VHS’s McVitie Fund, which offers financial assistance for urgent veterinary care to hundreds of animals from low-income households each year, helping animals like Copper the dog to get the care they need while staying with their loving families and preventing surrenders to the already-overburdened shelter and rescue system.
Left: Copper the dog at the veterinarian; Copper needed emergency surgery to remove bladder stones in order to save his life. Right: Copper after receiving assistance through the Vancouver Humane Society’s McVitie Fund and recovering from surgery.
“The rising costs of living mean that the McVitie Fund is assisting a rapidly growing number of people every year,” said VHS Communications Director Chantelle Archambault. “More than 580 animals have already received help through the program in 2022—twice as many as in all of 2021!”
The first $6,000 in donations to support animals in need will be doubled by generous local partners. Members of the community can donate through the Vancouver Humane Society’s website at vancouverhumane.ca.
B.C.’s provincial government has announced that it is moving ahead with regulatory changes that will restrict the sale and use of some of the deadliest rodent poisons. As of January 21, 2023, second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) will be prohibited, with exemptions for sectors that have been deemed ‘essential services’.
The government’s decision follows a temporary, partial ban that has been in place since July 2021, along with a public consultation around proposed permanent changes. During this period, more than 2,500 British Columbians signed the Vancouver Humane Society’s petition in support of a comprehensive rodenticide ban. The VHS and more than 1,300 individuals participated in the public consultation; the VHS also submitted a report in support of a comprehensive rodenticide ban.
Despite widespread feedback in support of further restrictions and a full ban, the Province announced its decision to move forward with its initially proposed changes. Concerns remain that gaps in the regulations will continue to pose a risk to animals.
In addition to the exemptions that will allow SGARs to continue being used in many circumstances, many other dangerous poisons will still be allowed under the updated regulations, including first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (FGARs) and neurotoxins. There are also concerns that enforcement is more difficult without consistent and comprehensive regulations.
Despite concerns, the decision to significantly restrict the use of SGARs is an important step in the right direction. The VHS and animal allies will continue to advocate for further action to protect animals from encountering these and other inhumane poisons.
The VHS recommends that the government’s partial ban be a starting point in a much-needed move away from deadly and inhumane rodent poisons and toward humane alternatives and preventative approaches for dealing with human-rodent conflicts.
A growing number of B.C. communities have gone above and beyond the partial ban. To date, more than 20 B.C. municipalities have banned rodenticides on municipal property, including Whistler, which recently adopted a policy to ban FGARs and SGARs.
Take action: Support going beyond the partial ban
You can help to protect wildlife and pets by encouraging your community, local businesses, strata and others to follow the lead of communities that have banned rodenticides and utilize humane alternatives.
Use the tips and talking points below to reach out and engage with decision-makers.
1. Watch for signs of poisons.
Keep an eye out for bait boxes in and around your community, which indicate a rodent management program is in use. Note: Not every bait box contains rodenticides. Bait boxes can also contain snap traps. Look for a label that indicates the bait box’s contents.
2. Reach out to property owners or managers.
Reach out to the decision-maker in charge of the building and inquire about what rodent/”pest” control products are in use at the location.
3. Share information and alternatives.
If rodenticides (or other inhumane products like glue traps) are in use, offer to share more information and alternatives:
Rodenticides are highly toxic poisons that cause a slow and painful death for the rodents who consume them and can severely injure or kill any scavengers, predators or pets who encounter the poisoned rodents or the poisons directly. This includes anticoagulant poisons (including first-generation products) and other rodenticides, such as neurotoxins like Bromethalin.
Effective and sustainable alternative solutions exist to address human-rodent conflicts, including high quality snap traps, captive bolt traps, and rodent contraceptives. The most effective long-term solutions include:
- Exclusion techniques: rodent-proofing buildings and fixing structural flaws and access points;
- Preventative measures: addressing attractants such as garbage, compost, fallen bird seed and fruit, leaky plumbing;
- Habitat modification: making the environment around buildings less hospitable for rodents by cutting back bushes and grasses, storing items away from buildings and off of the ground.
4. Share contact information for humane wildlife management companies.
Share contact information for humane rodent control companies (e.g. Humane Solutions) or encourage the decision-maker to speak with their current company about replacing rodenticides with humane alternative approaches.
Suspect SGARs are being used in a prohibited location?
If you suspect SGARs are being used in prohibited locations, report them to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service’s RAPP line via the “Report All Poachers and Polluters” (RAPP) hotline at 1-877-952-7277 (RAPP) or #7277, or through the online reporting form.
Some examples of prohibited and non-prohibited locations include:
Examples of prohibited locations
Examples of exempt locations
*SGARs are not allowed here – Residential buildings such as apartments – Office buildings – Parks – Schools – Non-food retail shops
*SGARs can still be used by licensed “pest control” companies here – Hospitals – Supportive housing and shelters – Agricultural operations – Grocery stores – Restaurants – Landfills and recycling facilities
See page 12 of this PDF for the full list of exempt locations where SGARs are allowed to continue being used. If a SGAR is being used at a location not on the list, it is not in compliance with the ban. Watch the video below for tips on documenting and reporting prohibited rodenticides.
The Province of British Columbia recently introduced new restrictions on the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs). To report the use of prohibited rodenticides (Brodifacoum, Bromadiolone, or Difethialone) in non-exempt locations, go to https://forms.gov.bc.ca/environment/rapp/. For updates on wildlife poison restrictions in B.C., visit https://vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca/.
VANCOUVER, November 1, 2022 – The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) applauds the Province of British Columbia’s move to address rodenticide poisoning of wildlife and pets, but raises concerns that gaps continue to leave animals at risk. The Province announced on Friday that it is moving ahead with regulatory changes around the sale and use of some of the deadliest rodent poisons.
In May 2022, about halfway through an 18-month B.C.-wide partial ban on second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs), the Province released an intentions paper proposing permanent restrictions.
The VHS noted that the proposed regulations, like the temporary ban, would still allow other types of rodent poisons and would permit the use of SGARs in many exempt locations, including those with frequent wildlife activity like garbage dumps. Non-target animals who eat poisoned rodents, such as owls and domestic cats, are at risk of secondary poisoning.
Following an online comment period which saw widespread support for increasing restrictions, the Province announced its decision to move forward with its initially proposed changes.
VHS Campaign Director Emily Pickett responded, “The B.C. government’s decision to significantly restrict the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides is an important step in the right direction. However, there are concerns about gaps in the regulations that were raised by the Vancouver Humane Society and many other respondents during the online comment period.”
More than 1,300 private individuals submitted responses through the B.C. government’s online consultation form, “almost all” of whom expressed support for “a total ban on use of rodenticides in B.C.” or “restriction [on their use] to the greatest extent possible”, according a government report.
The public consultation also included a response from the VHS, which reported 2,582 resident signatures supporting a comprehensive ban on all rodenticides and a significant decrease in exemptions. Another organization, Rodenticide Free BC, reported a petition signed by 4,841 British Columbians in support of a ban on all rodenticides.
In addition to concerns about exempt locations and other dangerous poisons that will still be permitted, the VHS raised red flags that the updated regulations may amount to a complicated patchwork of rules for different locations and rodenticide products, making enforcement difficult. Evidence of suspected SGAR use in prohibited locations was routinely found during the temporary ban.
“If you walk through your community, you’ll see lots of black bait boxes around. We’ve seen reports of bait boxes being mislabeled or unlabeled, so the public has no way of really knowing what’s in them,” said Pickett. “Follow-up on reported complaints was inconsistent and slow, suggesting that there aren’t enough resources allocated to effectively enforce a partial ban.”
The VHS recommends that the government’s partial ban be a starting point in a much-needed move away from deadly and inhumane rodent poisons and toward humane alternatives and preventative approaches for dealing with human-rodent conflicts.
Here are five ways that fireworks harm animals, humans, and the environment we share.
1. Companion animals like dogs, cats, and horses suffer.
We love our companion animals and we would do anything to keep them safe. Many pet guardians know the toll that fireworks take on anxious animals, whose hearing is far more sensitive than our own. In a recent study, approximately 23% of the dogs were reported to be fearful of noises, with the highest frequency of fear from fireworks.
This fear response can bring with it tragic consequences. You might remember a number of sad cases that made it into the news in recent years. In 2016, a 10-year-old dog named Maggie was off-leash at the unfenced Trout Lake dog park during the afternoon when someone set off fireworks. Scared and disoriented, Maggie took off running and was hit by a Skytrain. In 2019, a cat named Spot had to be euthanized after becoming frightened by garden fireworks and seriously injured in the UK. Just this year, a horse named Navar suffered a compound fracture after being spooked by fireworks in Nova Scotia and was euthanized. In June, a dog named Jupiter escaped her backyard and lost her life during a Canada Day fireworks display.
2. Birds panic and flee, causing them harm and death.
When fireworks are set off, birds are frightened from their nest and take flight en masse. This shocking animation shows the “explosive movements” before and after fireworks were lit to ring in the new year in the Netherlands.
Birds aren’t equipped to fly at night, when fireworks displays are typically held, which puts them at a major risk of flying into objects such as trees, vehicles, and buildings. The most infamous case of mass bird deaths occurred in Arkansas, when New Year’s fireworks caused the deaths of about 5,000 birds.
3. Wild animals become frightened and abandon their young.
Wild animals experience fear and disorientation in response to fireworks, which can cause them to flee into dangerous locations like roadways. Wildlife rescue organizations report that loud and startling fireworks displays cause animals to abandon their young in their nests and dens.
4. Humans experience weapons-related PTSD.
Non-human animals are not the only ones who experience panic due to loud and bright fireworks. Humans who experience weapons-related PTSD, such as veterans and refugees from war zones, can be triggered by the explosive sounds. People with sensory processing disorders and some neurodivergent folks can also have difficulties with fireworks.
5. Harmful substances are released into the environment.
When fireworks are set off, the chemical reactions that create fireworks’ trademark light and sound effects release harmful substances into the environment that harm humans, animals, and the environment.
Greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen are released into the air, contributing to climate change. Particulate matter from the smoke can cause breathing difficulties to those with respiratory problems.
The debris from fireworks can pollute our waterways, harming or killing fish, waterfowl, and other aquatic animals who rely on this habitat for food, shelter, and survival.
Three ways you can help
1. Learn your municipality’s regulations.
Does your municipality have a bylaw prohibiting fireworks? You can learn about various municipal bylaws around fireworks in this article or on your municipality’s website.
The City of Vancouver and the City of North Vancouver have banned the purchase and use of fireworks by consumers. If your municipality still allows consumer fireworks to be purchased and/or used, you can encourage them to follow this lead! Find contact information for your local decision-makers on your municipality’s website. Consider this template as a guide for your ask:
Hello,
I am writing to express my concern about the use of fireworks in our municipality.
Fireworks are harmful to the environment, animals, and humans. The loud sounds from fireworks cause pets to become frightened and flee their homes; cause wildlife to panic and run into roadways or fly into buildings; and trigger panic responses in individuals with weapons-related PTSD. The debris from fireworks harms our environment and pollutes our waterways.
Other municipalities have taken steps to address these concerns. For instance, Banff and Canmore have introduced sound-free fireworks displays, while Vancouver and the City of North Vancouver have banned the sale and use of consumer fireworks. I implore you to follow their lead by introducing a bylaw to address the serious impacts of fireworks.
I look forward to your response.
3. Share how fireworks impact you and your animal family members.
The more people learn about the serious consequences of fireworks, the more we can spread thoughtfulness and compassion in our celebrations. Please share your story below so that the VHS may share it in the future.
Thank you for protecting animals and opting for a fireworks-free celebration.
Is your companion animal afraid of fireworks?
Check out these tips for helping your dog or cat to keep calm during stressful fireworks displays.
