(7) No person shall obstruct a prescribed person exercising a power under this section to enter a motor vehicle for the purpose of taking an animal into his or her possession and relieving its distress.

Costs

(8) The owner or custodian of the animal is responsible for any costs incurred by the prescribed person in taking steps to relieve the animal’s distress, and the amount may be recovered as a debt due and owing to the prescribed person.

The Criminal Code of Canada also addresses instances of cruelty to animals, prohibiting unnecessary pain, suffering and injury as well as abandonment, willful neglect or failure to provide suitable and adequate food, water, shelter or care for a domestic animal or an animal in captivity (S.446).

The above protections are awarded full enforcement and carry a wide array of penalties and deterrents in cases of neglect, abuse or improper care. With that being said, there is no outright language dealing with extreme weather conditions. Administration has reached out to a number of Ontario municipalities in an attempt to identify common practices relating to this question. Of the 23 municipalities that were contacted, responses were received by 10 of them. A summary of the information gathered is below.

The majority of respondents do not enforce any time limits on outdoor tethering or extreme weather specifically, in fact they only have general or basic wording relating to animal welfare in their by-law. For example, Newmarket and Hamilton have a by-law which simply states that ‘animals must be treated in a humane manner.’ Other municipalities are attempting to introduce language through two main methods. Mississauga has implemented a time limit on animals outdoors in extreme weather conditions as defined by Environment Canada, similar to the Councillor’s suggestion. This proposed wording does bring a number of challenges including the enforceability of such clauses. It is extremely difficult to prove that an animal has been outside during an extreme weather event for any amount of time. Eyewitness reports the method most often used to spur investigation but can prove to be unreliable. Without sufficient proof or records stemming from an enforcement officer, it is difficult to uphold any enforcement action if it is challenged legislatively. However, when incorporating new language into by-laws, enacting the change and publicizing the change does end to create a type of auto-compliance in some cases whereby just hearing about the rules prompts some to follow them. Generally, these are pet owners who already attempt to comply with all by-laws resulting in insufficient changes to the behaviour of the targeted irresponsible pet owners. Another consideration involves the needs of specific breeds. Many dog breeds with thick fur, effective fat storage and double coats are specifically bred for colder temperatures. Small breeds with thinner skin and short hair are particularly well suited to high heat. Consideration of these breeds is an important