To Mr. Keith Colwell, Minister of Agriculture

Dear Sir,

I wish to bring to your attention the recent results of the judge’s ruling in the case of Ms. Karin Robertson and the actions of the Nova Scotia office of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) against her operation of a “puppy mill” establishment in Wolfville Nova Scotia.

As you know the Judge in this case, Judge Rhonda van der Hoek acquitted Ms. Robertson of all charges laid by the SPCA.  A large number of residents of Kings County have already expressed their dismay and disappointment in the ruling and the validation provided by the Judge in social media postings and I don’t intend to complain over the particulars of the case. Instead I wish to present to you what I believe is being missed by many and that is the damage this ruling has done to the citizens of Kings County and the population of Nova Scotia.

Though you may already be familiar with the particulars of this event and the courts recent ruling allow me a moment to point out what I think are the key points based on the information passed on through the mainstream and online media services that demonstrates not only that this was a travesty of justice to the animals involved in this horrible industrialization of dogs but it opens the door to others to engage in a similar activity that could have shocking results to more animals and bring to the reputation of Nova Scotia a horrible stigma that may take years to remove.

The recent ruling in this case sends a very clear message that the province of Nova Scotia, through its application of the judicial process, has little if any concern in joining the rest of the world in eradicating a cruel and barbaric process of industrialized domestic animal breeding operations, what are commonly referred to as “puppy mills”. Rather than acquit, the judge could have reduced the fines and stipulated a cap on the number of animals kept in the individuals operation. But instead simply discarded any care for the animals in question and worse unintentionally gave the nod to a practice that by its’ design is uncaring and horrible to the dogs themselves.

For years now it has been recognized and presented in main stream media that “puppy mills” are not only by the nature of their operation cruel to the animals but only serve to generate an overabundance of unwanted pets which are usually brought to animal retention facilities and are then generally destroyed since they are unadoptable. The “puppy mill” process only produces animals that are not properly socialized and often are plagued with genetic conditions that are exasperated in the group breeding process. What many people do not realize is that in industrial animal breeding operations the inherent death rate from animal pregnancies gone wrong is enormously high.

Not only is the treatment of these animals horrific but the response to the case in the ruling by Judge van der Hoek in acquitting Ms. Robertson is nothing short of unfathomable, and a smear on the reputation of Kings County and thereby the Province of Nova Scotia. This ruling by a Judge creates an obstacle for any other future case to prevent animal cruelty in industrialized breeding operations.

Earlier in my letter I stated that this was a setback for not only animals but the citizens of Kings County and all of Nova Scotia and please allow me to qualify that statement. Anyone who is even remotely accessing the internet is aware of the huge world-wide movement by a vast number of organizations to bring to light the obligation of the human race to take up the mantel of custodianship of the planet and specifically to advance the fair and humane treatment of specifically animals that been associated with society as “pets and loved ones”. National new agencies, international companies and business leaders are coming to the forefront and promoting the plight of animals both domestic and wild. The proof is on any cable or streaming television station where either the natural world channels or reality television are becoming the focus of a large and growing viewer audience.

So into the social wave of growing awareness of the plight of animals world-wide, where climate change, animal welfare and planet husbandry are becoming the most talked about and focused events in the history of mankind wades Kings County and Nova Scotia. The province where animal cruelty and inhumane practices are not only of no interest or concern of the legislative body but is sanctioned and allowed to operate on an industrial scale and supported by the legal system that is supposed to protect not just people but animals.

I present to you that Nova Scotia, with its mink farms for fur, wild animal trapping practices and now government sanctioned domestic animal breeding and processing plants can only be viewed by the rest of Canada and the world as backwards and ignorant of its obligations as a partner in the protection and preservation of the planet. This type of ruling puts in the same venue as dog meat process operations in South East Asia and massive fur farms of Eastern Europe.

Although the provincial government does not have the power to directly interfere with the judgement of a court of law, there are other means available. It does have the legal ability to, not only regulate animal welfare and to ban operations of large scale breeding where humane practices based on the identified needs of the animal, both physical and mentally are not addressed or adopted. This is not only a legal possibility, but in this time and place it is a moral imperative.

I charge the Agriculture Department of the Government of Nova Scotia to take up the mantel of social leadership and develop, implement and enforce measures that will lead to the end of such horrid operations as puppy mills, large scale inhumane breeding operations, and cruel animal captivity practices. Not only do the animals need our protection but Nova Scotia needs to be seen as a leader of animal care and husbandry, not just in Canada but world-wide. This can easily be done by instituting caps on the number of domestic pets a so called breeder would be allowed to retain on their private or business property. The residents of the province are required to get permits for any number of efforts or activities that are governed for the public good, animal breeding operations could easily become such a regulated industry and could be controlled through onsite inspections as a condition for licensing.

There is a saying that a society is judged not only on how it treats it members, but also those placed in it’s care. If that is true, then at this point in time, and thanks to Judge van der Hoek, Nova Scotia definitely does not present a positive example to the world.