Animal in Distress (PAWSA)

Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019, S.O. 2019, c. 13

15 (1) No person shall cause an animal to be in distress.

(2) No owner or custodian of an animal shall permit the animal to be in distress.

(3) No person shall knowingly or recklessly cause an animal to be exposed to an undue risk of distress.

(4) Subsections (1), (2) and (3) do not apply in respect of,

(a) an activity permitted under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997 in relation to wildlife in the wild;

(b) an activity permitted under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997 or the Fisheries Act (Canada) in relation to fish;

(c) an activity regarding agricultural animal care, management or husbandry carried on in accordance with,

(i) any standards of care or administrative requirements that expressly provide that they apply to that activity, or

(ii) if no standards of care or administrative requirements expressly provide that they apply to that activity, the reasonable and generally accepted practices of agricultural animal care, management or husbandry;

(d) a prescribed class of animals or animals living in prescribed circumstances or conditions; and

(e) prescribed activities.

(5) Subsections (1), (2) and (3) do not apply to,

(a) a veterinarian providing veterinary care, or boarding an animal as part of its care, in accordance with the standards of practice established under the Veterinarians Act;

(b) a person acting under the supervision of a veterinarian described in clause (a); and

(c) a person acting under the orders of a veterinarian described in clause (a), but only in respect of what the person does or does not do in following those orders.