Humane Initiative is an Ontario based, grass roots, volunteer driven and passionately committed animal advocacy group.
Founders Linda and Donna connected over puppy mills several years ago. We each brought a lot of experience to the table and realizing there were synergies in outlook, goals and approach the Humane Initiative was born!
We believe that all animals/mammals (agriculture, companion, captive wildlife, oceanic) are sentient – possessing the ability to feel (pain, joy, fear, loneliness etc).
They deserve to live with dignity, be treated in a humane manner that allows them to live the most natural lives possible.
Animals are not entertainment exhibits, commodities or science projects. Note, wildlife not under actual human control are also significantly under threat of humankind. Their homes, food sources and migration paths are directly under attack by human expansion and greed.
In Ontario, animals are not acknowledged to be sentient. They are property – plain and simple. This makes no sense. In fact the PAWS Act clearly addresses “distress” in animals. How can an object, an inanimate object be subject to “distress”? We believe this contradiction is at the very core of our fight to change the laws.
Reflecting clear and measurable Standards of Care are foundational if the goal of the animal welfare policy, legislation and regulations is humane treatment. Ontario’s Standards of Care are very vague and immeasurable; making them ineffective for compliance, enforcement and justice.
As taxpayers in the province of Ontario, the government works FOR US. Policy should reflect what the majority of the voters state is their mandate NOT what special interest groups state is their desired policy. We believe that a government is fully accountable for their actions and inaction. It was expected that there is a reasonable level of transparency in the workings of the government and the people running it.
Humane Initiative firmly endorses The Five Freedoms. An animal welfare model originally developed in 1965 in the United Kingdom to address the care of farm animals. Over time, The Five Freedoms has been expanded to now represent internationally accepted standards of care that affirm every living being’s right to humane treatment.
THE FIVE FREEDOMS
- Freedom from hunger and thirst
- Freedom from pain, injury and disease
- Freedom from distress
- Freedom from discomfort
- Freedom to express behaviours that promote well-being
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“Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel”
—- Mark Twain —-