• Arctic Wildlife
  
  • The Foundation expressed its concern in correspondence and meetings with representatives of the Federal Government concerning the hunting of muskox and polar bears in the Arctic.  This concern led to awareness that humane organizations were needed in both the East and West Arctic.  This in turn this led to the formation of S.P.C.A.s in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
    
    The Foundation petitioned the Canadian Wildlife Service concerning the practice of the de-horning of Caribou in velvet in the Northwest Territories.
    
    Alarmed by large-scale losses of Caribou in Northern Quebec, the Foundation asked the Federal Government and the Government of Quebec to enquire into the causes of these losses and to take the necessary action to prevent a recurrence of this disaster.
    
    
• Whales
  • In the period 1965-1968, the Foundation attempted to develop an electric harpoon in co-operation with the British whaling firm Hector Whaling Ltd.  Work came to an end with the cessation of whaling by Canadians in 1968.
    
    
• Seals & Sealing
  • The Foundation participated from its inception in the campaign to develop humane sealing techniques and to regulate seal hunting by the introduction of the appropriate legislation.  In particular the Foundation co-operated with the International Society for the Protection of Animals and the Ontario Humane Society.
    
    Assistance was given towards the cost of sending observers to the area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence surrounding the Magdalen Islands, Province of Quebec and also off the coast of Newfoundland, and to the publication of reports by these observers.
    
    
• Sport Hunting
  • The Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada has always advocated that those Canadians who choose to kill animals for sport must accept, in so doing, the responsibility for making sure the animals do not suffer.  The Foundation has advocated licensing, hunter education, restrictions on types of weapons used, compulsory use of trained retrievers and total protection for any species of animal or bird that is endangered or is at risk of becoming endangered.
    
    To highlight these concerns, a National Conference on Sport Hunting was organized by the Foundation and held in Toronto on November 18-19, 1976.  The conference was supported by representatives of many outdoor and sporting organizations.  The conference agreed that there was a very real need for increased and improved hunter education and increased protection for wildlife habitat.
    
    
• Trapping of Fur-Bearing Animals and the Development of New Traps
  • The Foundation supported the formation and operations of a Humane Trap Development Committee by the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and participated in that Committee.  Substantial funds were made available to the CFHS to support the work of the Committee.
    
    The Foundation supported, with a substantial grant, the production of a film showing the trapping of fur-bearing animals on trap lines in Canada.  The film was produced by the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals.
    
    Funding was also extended to the Animal Welfare Institute (US) to assist in the production and distribution of a pamphlet in Canada describing trapping methods.
    
    
  • The Foundation Has:
    * Assisted in the preparation and distribution of 60-second television public service announcements which were distributed to humane societies throughout Canada.
    
    * Carried out a survey of the socio-economic aspects of trapping.  This was then expanded to include a survey of the fur farming industry in Canada.
    
    * Petitioned the Government of Canada to prohibit the use of cruel traps and to abolish all forms of cruel trapping.
    
    * Organized meetings of Members of Parliament to discuss the possibility of legislation which would abolish 'non-essential' trapping.
    
    * Supported a workshop on fur farming organized by the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and the Canadian Association of Humane Trapping on fur farming.  The workshop was held on September 8, 1981.
    
    
• Exotic Animals
  • Concerned by the increasing evidence that exotic animals, not indigenous to Canada, were being imported in ever-increasing numbers, and faced with the disturbing proof that many of these animals were doomed to live in totally inadequate conditions and were deprived of proper food and care, the Foundation decided to bring this serious and escalating form of animal abuse to the attention of both the public and the Government of Canada by organizing a National Conference on Exotic Animals.
    
    The Conference was well supported by all the major Canadian groups with an interest in the exotics issue specifically and with wildlife issues in general.  The conference agreed that action was needed and agreed to form a National Committee on Exotic Animals with the responsibility to examine the importation, transporation, housing and care of exotic animals used for research, zoos and exhibition, and the pet trade.
    
    The committee was formed with representatives from the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, the Canadian Association of Public Zoos and Aquaria, the Canadian Council for Animal Care and representitives of the wholesale and retail pet trade.  The Foundation provided for the Chairman and Secretary of the Committee.
    
    The National Committee on Exotic Animals decided that new Federal legislation was needed and, after drafting and obtaining approval for the proposed legislation, eventually presented the recommendations of the Committee and of the national organizations it represented, to the Prime Minister of Canada.
    
    To support the work of this Committee, the Foundation carried out a survey of zoos and pets stores in Ontario and British Columbia.
    
    In addition, the Foundation prepared an extensive report on the problems of exotic animals for the information of Members of Parliament.  Finally, the Foundation prepared the draft of a federal bill which would specifically prohibit the importation to Canada of non-native animals to be kept as household pets, and submitted the draft bill to the Federal Government.
    
    
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
  • To encourage the Government of Canada to participate in signing the Convention, the Foundation widely publicized throughout Canada the problems resulting from the international traffic in endangered species and the danger of Canada becoming a back door conduit to the lucrative market for such species in the United States.
    
    
• Australia: Control of Kangaroos
  • Concerned by reports of inhumane practices used to control the population of kangaroos in Australia, the Foundation made a grant available to the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) to send an experienced field officer to Australia to enquire into the problem first hand.  A detailed technical report was made by WSPA.
    
    
• Operation Noah 2
  • Always alert to the need to protect wildlife in emergency situations, the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada had made substantial grants available over the years to the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) to support the organization's efforts to rescue animals in emergency situations.  These efforts include the removal of large numbers of wild creatures from the flooding caused by  a new dam in Surinam.
    
    Other relief projects carried out by WSPA with the support of the Foundation include the care of animals caught in the war zone in Cyprus and emergency assistance to animals that have survived both earthquakes and volcanic erruptions in different parts of the world.

   

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