{"id":595649,"date":"2026-04-10T21:53:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/595649\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T21:53:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:53:07","slug":"ontario-failed-to-collect-nearly-10-million-owed-by-alleged-animal-abusers-documents-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/595649\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario failed to collect nearly $10-million owed by alleged animal abusers, documents show"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Queen\u2019s Park in Toronto in November, 2025. Ontario has about 100 animal welfare inspectors who investigate allegations of animal cruelty.Eduardo Lima\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Ontario has failed to collect more than 90 per cent of money owed by alleged animal abusers whose pets, livestock or menagerie were seized during investigations, The Canadian Press has learned.<\/p>\n

Since 2019, the province has charged owners money to care for animals seized by Animal Welfare Services to the tune of $10,633,241, documents obtained by an animal advocacy group through freedom-of-information laws show.<\/p>\n

But the Ministry of Finance has only collected $1,020,582 over the past seven years, leaving more than $9-million outstanding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to look into that and thank you for bringing it to my attention,\u201d Solicitor-General Michael Kerzner, who is responsible for the welfare of animals across the province, said when asked about the uncollected millions.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Finance is responsible for the collection of the money owed. Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The province launched Animal Welfare Services in 2019 after the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a private charity, abdicated its role in enforcing animal cruelty laws.<\/p>\n

The province has about 100 animal welfare inspectors who investigate allegations of animal cruelty in every nook and cranny in Ontario, from pets in homes to animals on farms and menageries in zoos and aquariums.<\/p>\n

Kerzner defended the work of Ontario\u2019s animal welfare inspectors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are committed people that have a passion of protecting our animals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At issue is what\u2019s known as the \u201cstatement of account\u201d issued to animal owners by Animal Welfare Services for \u201ccosts incurred for the care, treatment, shelter and other necessary services provided to the animals while in the protective custody of AWS and before forfeiture of the animals,\u201d the government document says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really quite shocking that only 9 or 10 per cent are being collected,\u201d said Donna Power, president of advocacy group Humane Initiative. Power filed the freedom-of-information request last year in an effort to figure out how the province is conducting its business of protecting animals.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I really have very, very little confidence in AWS and in the solicitor general, so I file FOIs when they won\u2019t give me answers that I want,\u201d Power said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very upsetting. I know everyone\u2019s got their thing. My thing is animal welfare and it\u2019s just incredible how this government has completely vacated their responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Power then asked the Ministry of Finance questions about its low collection rate and what it was doing so that taxpayers weren\u2019t left to foot the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ministry of Finance conducts progressive collection activities on defaulted Animal Welfare Services invoices,\u201d a collection specialist with the ministry wrote to Power.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese activities include phone calls, letters, skip tracing and negotiating payment arrangements with clients. Effective February 2026, the MOF has authority to use enhanced collection tools \u2013 such as liens, warrants and garnishments \u2013 to improve recovery on outstanding AWS accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n

If payment isn\u2019t negotiated within 180 days, the collection specialist wrote, the bill could be referred to \u201cone of four contracted private collection agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more tough talk, but little action from the government, said interim Liberal leader John Fraser.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the point in enforcing something if there is no penalty?\u201d he said. \u201cThe enforcement of the law is what generally changes behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Premier Doug Ford\u2019s government is sending a message that it is not serious about enforcing animal protection laws, said Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlleged abusers are being let off the hook to the tune of $9-million, which will do nothing to deter future crimes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Both Fraser and Schreiner said the province needs to step up its efforts to enforce the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Queen\u2019s Park in Toronto in November, 2025. Ontario has about 100 animal welfare…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,1008,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-595649","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-pleasemod","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}