Cost of an Animal In-Care (AWS)

Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019, S.O. 2019, c. 13</ref name="PAWS"/>

35 (1) If an animal welfare inspector has provided an animal with necessaries to relieve its distress or the Chief Animal Welfare Inspector has taken an animal into the Chief Animal Welfare Inspector’s care, the Chief Animal Welfare Inspector may, from time to time, serve on the owner or custodian of the animal a statement of account respecting the cost of the necessaries.

(2) The statement of account must have printed or written on it the content of subsections 38 (2) and (5).

(3) An owner or custodian who receives a statement of account under subsection (1) is, subject to an order made under subsection 38 (9), liable for the amount specified in the statement.

(4) Subject to any agreement made under subsection (5), the animal is forfeited to the Crown if,

(a) the owner or custodian does not appeal the statement of account in accordance with subsection 38 (2) and fails to pay the stated amount within a prescribed period of time after receiving the statement of account; or

(b) the owner or custodian appealed the statement of account in accordance with subsection 38 (2) but failed to pay the confirmed or varied amount within a prescribed period of time after the Board provided notice of its decision.

(5) Before the expiry of the relevant time period set out in clause (4) (a) or (b), the Chief Animal Welfare Inspector may enter into a written agreement with the owner or custodian to extend the time for payment or reduce the amount that is to be paid, or both.