Animal welfare groups hire former top bureaucrat to investigate Ontario SPCA
TORONTO — A longtime bureaucrat who helped write animal welfare laws in Ontario has been hired by two non-profit organizations to perform a deep dive into the agency charged with enforcing those laws.
Zoocheck Canada and Animal Alliance Canada have hired Mike Zimmerman, who worked with the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services for decades before retiring last month, to lead an investigation into the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
“I think we have a very good animal welfare law, the OSPCA Act,” said Zimmerman, who led a team that revised the act in 2009.
“But my concern is it might not be enforced effectively, equitably or with accountability.”