Fur farm animal abuse case 'troubling,' says Geoff Kelley

Quebec cabinet minister Geoff Kelley said on Friday that allegations of animal abuse on afur farm are disturbing.

Kelley chaired a government committee on animal abuse convened in 2009 to address Quebec's notoriously lax pet crueltylaws.

• Quebec won't remove animals from fur farm facing allegations of cruelty
• Quebec to amend Civil Code to better protect animals from abuse

On Thursday, CBC News reported that the Montreal SPCA accuseda fur farmof abusing its foxes and mink in St-Jude, Que.

Following up on a complaint, the SPCA obtained a warrant to investigate Jean-LucRodier'sfur farm in May.

There, they found nearly 100 foxes and thousands of mink.SPCA director of animal advocacyAlanna Devine said she was horrified when she arrived at the farm.

Animals not having access to adequate water, large amounts of excrement, filthy cages... the sort of things that would be outrageous if we saw dogs wired bottom cages, no access to a solid floor, Devine told CBC News. Difficult things to see.

Inspectors seized 16 Arctic foxes, because a permit is required to keep them.

On Friday, Kelley was asked why the province did not seize the animals. He replied by asking where the thousands of animals would go if they were seized.

Last week, the province's agriculture ministerannounced the governmentwould amend the Civil Code to better protect domestic animals.

However, Kelley said, the animals on the fur farm fall under the purviewof the Natural Resources and Wildlife ministry, not the Ministry of Agriculture.

As it stands, Quebec's regulation respecting animals in captivity stipulates that it is legal to keep some animals in captivity for breeding purposes or for fur trade provided that at least 10 adult females of the same species are kept.