Quebec's new regulations on pet breeding, declawing come into effect next month

New pet ownership and breeding regulations are coming into effect next month in Quebec, which include a ban on non-therapeutic surgeries like tail-docking, ear cropping and declawing.

The regulations, which come into effect on Feb. 10, are something the SPCA has long advocated for.

"Imagine walking on your fingers and every step, you had phantom pain," said Dr. Kelly Faubert, describing how when cats are declawed, it's the equivalent of a human losing the tips of their fingers.

"Can you imagine if all your fingers were amputated, how much it would affect your behaviour, your interactions?" said Faubert, who is a vet with the Centre Veterinaire Laval.

The SPCA has been pushing for these regulations for years.

"A ban on declawing and other types of convenient or aesthetic surgeries in companion animals; a ban on the use of gas chambers as a means of euthanasia; and much stricter regulation in breeding cats and dogs," said Montreal SPCA director of animal advocacy Sophie Gaillard, listing some of the coming changes.

Quebec cat and dog breeders will limited to owning no more than 50 animals at a time.

"We have been known in the past as the puppy mill province in Canada, and we are really pleased this new regulation that comes into effect will be very strict in terms of the breeding and sale of companion animals, and we hope it will eradicate large-scale, unscrupulous breeders from our province, finally," said Gaillard.

She said the new rules are a step in the right direction. The next hurdle is enforcement.

"It will be a complaint-based mechanism for enforcement, so a member of the public, a client of a breeder -- someone who is a witness -- will have to call the authorities and report a situation."

The full Regulation respecting the welfare and safety of domestic companion animals and equines can be found here.