Government money to train staff and enforce animal cruelty laws is “dismal,” leaving investigators “underfunded and overworked,” according to the head of Canada’s humane societies.

The criticism comes as a new study of Ontario’s animal cruelty investigators warns that underfunding is putting officers at risk of violence and abuse on the job. As first reported by the Star, lack of resources means Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals staff must work alone in often dangerous situations, covering vast areas of the province without adequate communications equipment or access to government intelligence databases.

“Even if you combine provincial and federal funding you’re looking at less than $13.5 million across the country to enforce the law that Canadians expect is being enforced, and is an important social service,” said Barbara Cartwright, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies.

While the OSPCA is tasked with enforcing provincial animal cruelty legislation and its investigators are law enforcement agents, the group still operates as a non-profit charity. It receives $5 million annually from the Ontario government, but the report, funded by Brock University, says that covers just a third of the organization’s investigations budget.

Greg Flood, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services said the report findings were under review.

“Our government is committed to a strong animal welfare system in Ontario, and to ensuring OSPCA officers have the resources they need to protect the welfare of animals. We commend the important work investigators at the OSPCA do on a daily basis to ensure the safety and protection of all animals across the province, and we take the safety and security of OSPCA investigators very seriously,” he said.

Cartwright described enforcement standards in Ontario and across Canada as “spotty.”

“I think most Canadians would expect that there is a full enforcement regime in place, fully funded by the government and that’s not the case.”

Manitoba, which has the strongest animal protection legislation in Canada, according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, is one exception — enforcement is the responsibility of the provincial government. Cruelty investigations are carried out by Manitoba’s Chief Veterinary Office, which received $10.5 million in public funds in 2016.

In addition to more public money, access to intelligence databases is also essential to keep officers safe, Cartwright said. Flood, the ministry spokesperson, said the Ontario government didn’t have authority to grant access to the Canadian Police Information Centre, which is controlled by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

“Clearly it’s an important part of the picture of being able to adequately enforce the law,” Cartwright said. “To know what situation you’re going into. To know if there’s prior records, all those pieces are obviously going to increase the effectiveness of any enforcement officer in order to have access to all the tools including information.”

That is especially true given the strong body of evidence pointing to the link between animal abuse and other forms of violent behaviour, says Mary Lou Randour, a Washington, D.C.-based psychologist and animal rights advocate.

“I think there seems to be a lack of recognition that there is this link between violence toward animals and toward humans,” she said. “An animal control officer is going to face situations where they have to be more cautious, and need better training, better equipment like any other police officer would.”

While enforcement varies from state to state in the U.S., Randour has successfully pushed the FBI to track all incidents of animal cruelty in the country — a policy that was implemented earlier this year.

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“The last 20 years especially there have been a number of scientifically valid research studies that show a very strong correlation between domestic abuse and animal abuse, between child abuse and animal abuse, and animal abuse and general criminal behaviour,” Randour said.

“The argument was that if you want to have more tools to fight crime, you need to pay attention to animal cruelty.”