Humane Canada is applauding two major federal developments that bring long-overdue recognition to a difficult truth: animals are often targeted as instruments of fear, manipulation, and coercion in cycles of interpersonal and gender-based violence. Together, new recommendations from the Standing Committee on the Status of Women and the introduction of Bill C-16 signal a watershed moment for national policy, acknowledging the profound connection between animal cruelty and human harm.
The Standing Committee’s final report on coercive control, tabled in Parliament on November 25 by Chair MP Marilyn Gladu, marks a significant step toward protecting victim-survivors and the animals they love. Among its 16 recommendations, two are especially meaningful for Humane Canada, which has long advocated for stronger recognition of the “Violence Link” – the well-documented intersection between cruelty to animals and violence against people.
“These recommendations represent an important step toward ensuring that Canada’s legal frameworks fully acknowledge the abuse of animals in coercive control,” said Barbara Cartwright, CEO of Humane Canada. “When animals are used as tools of abuse, the safety of victim-survivors is also compromised.”
Humane Canada appeared before the Committee in October 2024, providing evidence that companion animals are frequently threatened, harmed, or used as leverage by abusers seeking to intimidate or silence partners. The emotional bond between people and their pets makes this tactic especially powerful, often trapping survivors in dangerous situations. Nearly half of Canadian women report delaying leaving an abusive partner because they have no safe solution for their animals.
In response, the Committee is urging the federal government – working with provinces, territories, and Indigenous Peoples – to formally recognize animal mistreatment as a form of coercive behaviour. It also recommends enhanced training for justice and law-enforcement personnel to identify and assess animal-related coercion during intimate partner violence investigations. These reforms would apply not only to pets but also to farmed and service animals, recognizing that people form deep bonds with all types of animals and may struggle to relocate larger species such as horses. Humane Canada’s ACT Project has already developed resources to help shelters and anti-violence organizations create housing options that accommodate both survivors and their animals.
The Committee’s report further calls for expanding shelter capacity to safely house pets, one of the most significant barriers preventing survivors from escaping abuse. It emphasizes that emergency, transitional, and affordable housing models must allow families to stay with their animals – an approach aligned with Humane Canada’s long-standing advocacy for more inclusive, trauma-informed support systems.
At the same time, the federal government has introduced Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act, which goes even further in addressing the Violence Link. Announced by Justice Minister Sean Fraser, the legislation would criminalize the distribution of animal sexual abuse images – a form of extreme cruelty that is increasingly tied to child exploitation. The RCMP has identified online groups that coerce children into creating abusive content involving animals and then use those images to extort further harm.
“Criminalizing the distribution of animal sexual abuse images is an essential step toward safeguarding both animals and children,” said Cartwright. “These images are tools of coercion, intimidation, and exploitation.”
Bill C-16 also amends criminal harassment provisions to include threats against animals in a victim’s care, recognizing animals as both victims and tools of coercive control. This closes a critical legal gap and reinforces that cruelty toward any family member – human or animal – will no longer be overlooked.
For Humane Canada, which leads the Canadian Violence Link Coalition and the National Centre for the Prosecution of Animal Cruelty, these advancements represent a turning point. After years of advocacy, research, and public education, Canada is formally acknowledging what frontline workers have long understood: when animals suffer, people suffer.
“Today marks a turning point for animals,” said Cartwright. “Recognizing the violence link is vital to building safer homes and stronger protections for everyone.”
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Relocating large animals such as horses is admittedly more difficult, so alternate facilities off-site are more feasible. Humane Canada’s ACT Project, which focused on finding solutions for survivors with any animals, has a list of resources here for anti-violence organizations to create options for housing people and animals, whether pets, farmed or service animals.
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