Canadian Animal Policy Symposium, March 1 2019

The Canadian Animal Policy Symposium brings together provincial policymakers to share best practices in animal policy development. Join us March 1 at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Victoria as we discuss current and future changes in the complex landscape of animal policy with legislative and scientific leaders from across Canada.

General admission and online webcast tickets are now available! General admission tickets include lunch.

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The symposium will begin with a multidisciplinary panel: How changing social attitudes to animal welfare influence policy development

We are happy to welcome the following keynote panelists to lead this conversation:

• Dr. Jane Pritchard, DVM, Chief Veterinary Officer, Government of British Columbia
• Dr. Dan Weary, PhD, co-founder of University of British Columbia’s Animal Welfare Program
• Dr. LeeAnn Forsythe, DVM, Disease Surveillance Veterinarian, Government of Saskatchewan
• Jackie Wepruk, General Manager, National Farm Animal Care Council

Following the remarks of our opening panel, the symposium will hear from the following speakers:

• Team from the Policy and Legislation Branch, Ministry of Agriculture, British Columbia: Presenting British Columbia’s approach to animal welfare policy, outlining recent changes to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and work to date on new regulatory regimes
• Dr. LeeAnn Forsythe DVM, Disease Surveillance Veterinarian, Saskatchewan: Speaking on the Government of Saskatchewan’s Interagency and Animal Welfare Task Team, addressing the link between distress in animals and underlying human health conditions
• Dr. Glenna McGregor DVM, Veterinary Pathologist, British Columbia: Discussing policy options to prevent disease transmission between domestic and wild sheep populations in BC
• Dwight Thompson, Legislative and Regulatory Specialist, Prince Edward Island: Presenting on the development of PEI’s 2017 Animal Welfare Act, addressing the reason for change, the stakeholder consultation process, regulation development and impact to date
• Jackie Wepruk, General Manager, National Farm Animal Care Council: Sharing NFACC’s development process for the Codes of Practice for the care and handling of farm animals, including challenges with implementing the Codes and insights into growing trends among provinces to incorporate the Codes

For further details on each speaker and their presentation, please review our conference program.

Additional presentations at the symposium will be led by two Master of Public Administration students exploring policy changes impacting wild animal conservation and welfare. The symposium will close with final remarks on the future of provincial animal policymaking in Canada.

If you have an interest in learning about and advancing evidence-driven practices in animal policy development, we hope you will join us for this unique event!

For more information, please contact us at outreach@spca.bc.ca.