e-5114 (Animals)

Petition to the Government of Canada

• Under current Canadian law, animals are not considered sentient beings, and are classified as property;
• Sentience is the ability to experience feelings and sensations, and is an ethical basis for determining that animals deserve moral consideration;
• On April 19, 2024, the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness was initially signed by 39 scientists, philosophers, legal scholars and those in relevant fields, from Canada and around the world, there are currently 457 signatures, the Declaration affirms there is strong scientific evidence that all vertebrates and many invertebrates possess conscious experiences, and, by consciousness, the document is referring to sentience;
• Professor Kristin Andrews, Toronto York University Research Chair in Animal Minds, who has studied animal cognition for more than 30 years, co-initiated the New York Declaration, saying "the declaration affirms that we can no longer assume these creatures are insentient or incapable of feeling... we need to recognize they likely feel pain and pleasure, and minimize the negative experiences we impose on them”;
• The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association "holds that the recognition of animal sentience should be considered within the Canadian legal system under nationally harmonized animal welfare legislation to ensure consistent application and enforcement"; and
• The 32 countries that have formally recognized non-human animal sentience include the European Union, Switzerland, Chile, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.