Thank you to everyone who signed our petition to Canada’s Minister of International Development, asking for greater protection of animals during disasters.
Including animals in Canada’s international aid would not only reduce the suffering of millions of animals globally, it would save human lives and livelihoods; helping communities achieve self-sufficiency more quickly. We strongly believe this holistic approach will strengthen the effectiveness of Canada’s international assistance.
Tremendous support from individual Canadians and MPs
More than 4,600 people signed a petition or sent a letter to their MP. While our e-petition is now closed, MPs continue to stand up in support of this important animal welfare and humanitarian issue by presenting our paper petitions in the House of Commons. A special thanks to Rob Oliphant, MP for Don Valley West, who sponsored our e-petition and to the many MPs who sent letters expressing their support to the Minister.
We also want to thank Vets Without Borders for their support developing and promoting our petition.
The Ministers responds
In the Minister's response, she highlights some of the ways that Canadian aid has helped animals. It's something that we can all be proud of and you can see her response here.
We are glad that the Minister recognizes the importance of protecting animals and seemingly admits that funding to help animals recover after a disaster or humanitarian emergency is “modest”. We hope that the support from individual Canadians and MPs will further encourage the Minister to invest in animal protection and to include animals in Canada’s new international assistance policy and funding framework, which is expected very soon.
Through Canada's new aid policies, we have the opportunity to positively impact millions of animals and the people who depend on them. We urge the Minister not to miss this opportunity.
You can still help by writing to the Minister and ask her to include animals in Canada’s new aid policies:
Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau,
Minister of International Development and La Francophonie
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G2
marie-claude.bibeau@parl.gc.ca
Ask your MP to send a letter to the Minister too. Find your MP’s contact info here.
Read our case studies on animal protection and disaster risk reduction
