PÉTITION BERGER BLANC

#4: Doris Milmore - Lois pour protéger notre animal 

English)

The animal control contract for many boroughs in the city of Montreal is currently awarded to Berger Blanc Inc., a for-profit corporation

WHEREAS approximately 50% of Montrealers possess a cat or dog and are concerned about the well-being of their companion animal;

THAT Berger Blanc provides a mediocre service – for instance no file is ever opened for lost cats (even if they have an ID tag or microchip), files on lost dogs are closed after 30 days with no notice even if those dogs have city licences and Berger Blanc does not possess a microchip scanner;

THAT Berger Blanc is located far from the city centre, in Rivières-des-Prairies and traveling there and back by public transport can take up to 4 hours;

THAT Berger Blanc provides no accountability regarding the fate of the animals which are entrusted to them and has no mechanism to trace the fate of each individual animal that it receives;

THAT complaints from individuals indicate that Berger Blanc does not systematically verify the presence of ID tags or other identification on the animals that it collects or receives;

THAT both the rate of return of lost animals to their owners, and the rate of adoption at this shelter are extremely unsatisfactory. Please note: following verification of statistics concerning the rate of return of lost animals to their owners, new numbers are to be considered. Therefore, for example, for 8 of the boroughs served by Berger Blanc in 2009, the rate of return of lost animals to their families varies between 30% to 50% for dogs and between 2% to 6% for cats.

THAT as a result, large-scale euthanasia is performed solely according to the criterion of lowest cost, without any concern for the suffering caused to the animals;

THAT we want our animal control contract to be entrusted to an organization that values both services to residents and the welfare of animals, and places those above commercial profit;

WE THE UNDERSIGNED RESIDENTS OF MONTREAL demand the following changes from our borough mayors:

For existing contracts, and subject to penalty of resiliation, institute appropriate measures to ensure that Berger Blanc respects at all times its obligations, particularly the following - use all means available to find the owner of a lost and identified animal – avoid unnecessary travel for residents searching for their lost pets – prioritize adoption over euthanasia – prohibit the sale or distribution of animals to laboratories or other entities for experiments, and – ensure that euthanization is done exclusively by injection administered by a veterinarian.

For all future contracts, ensure, in particular, the following obligations:

• The animal control provider must be accessible by public transport within no more than one hour from the borough it services;
• Upon reception of any animal, the provider must verify without delay the presence of any identification, tattoo or microchip by checking for the latter by way of microchip reader;
• Use all means available to locate and contact the owner of any animal identified by licence, tattoo, microchip or other method;
• Display immediately the photo of any animal it receives on its website as well as photos transmitted by residents of animals lost and found, and maintain these photos for a reasonable amount of time;
• Ensure that the fate of each individual animal it receives is traceable and report this information regularly to the borough as well as to the public upon demand;
• Prioritize the adoption of animals of all ages in collaboration with the CAACQ or other non-profits, and facilitate transfers of animals to non-profit animal shelters in order to reduce rates of euthanasia;
• Sell, give or otherwise dispose of animals solely as COMPANION animals and never to breeders, puppy mills, companies seeking guard dogs, laboratories or other organizations seeking animals for experimentation;
• Sterilize all cats and dogs before they are adopted, at cost to the adopter;
• Euthanize all animals (domestic and wild) exclusively by lethal injection administered by a veterinarian (with a sedative in the case of an intra-cardiac injection) and provide proof for each animal euthanized;
• Display and maintain up to date statistics relevant to the animals that it receives.

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY! THANK YOU FOR SIGNING!

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WOULD LIKE TO CONTACT US ABOUT A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH BERGER BLANC, PLEASE CONTACT: petition.bergerblanc@gmail.com