To the editor:
Seeing those two animals taken away from their home due to abuse is another heartbreaking reason why Canada must rewrite animal cruelty legislation to make the laws more explicit, cover more behaviours of abuse and neglect and impose much harsher penalties.
The cultural consciousness of the late 19th-century laws we presently have are no longer appropriate to the cultural consciousness about animals and their importance to families of the 21st century.
Furthermore, research has clearly shown that those who torture and abuse animals often do the same to people.
The courts, too, would better serve society if judges would impose the harsher sentences they presently have at their disposal instead of the wrist-slapping penalties most often previously imposed.
Paula Stein,
Edmonton
