REGINA — April 1 marks the first day of operation for the new Saskatchewan Animal Enforcement Agency.
At a ceremony at the legislature Wednesday to mark the occasion, Agriculture Minister David Marit officially presented Saskatchewan Animal Enforcement Agency CEO Lavan Thirukketheesawaranathan with their Certificate of Designation.
The new agency takes over from Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan, whose last day of operation was March 31. Work has been ongoing to ensure a smooth transition to the new provider, with the new provider having the same contact number at 306-382-0002.
Services for the Saskatchewan Animal Enforcement Agency will be delivered province-wide, with the exception of the City of Regina, where the Regina Humane Society remains the service provider.
There was not a lot of information shared about why the change in providers happened, but the changeover does come in the wake of changes to the Animal Protection Act introduced last fall and some enhanced responsibilities in animal enforcement.
According to Minister Marit, the changes establish a clear framework for Animal Protection Agency accountability, fiscal responsibility and transparency in the province.
“While streamlining the process for addressing animals in distress, the agency will take overall enforcement of the updated act under a strengthened enforcement model, ensuring the ministry's expectations for transparent, empathetic and fiscally responsible enforcement are met,” Marit said.
“They have a strong internal governance framework with board oversight to ensure accountable and transparent animal enforcement. They bring with them extensive experience in law enforcement, finances, and business management. This collective expertise provides a strong foundation of effective, professional, and accountable animal welfare enforcement services.”
Thirukketheesawaranathan laid out what their role is. “We are an animal protection law enforcement agency. Our responsibility is clear. We enforce the law, we protect the animals from distress, and we uphold the standards expected by the people of this province.”
The new agency has a total of 10 staff, some of whom have come over from the previous provider. Their goal, Thirukketheesawaranathan said, is to get to 14, with the four others being part-time individuals.
“Our plan is to incorporate young leaders to come on board,” said Thirukketheesawaranathan. “So one from veterinary colleges or vet techs, and the other one from police candidates, so they can come in and get experiences. Because a lot of conservation officers need some background, and that's what we want to do.”
The main difference with the new agency setup, Thirukketheesawaranathan said, is in the board of governors.
“We have a strong board of governors that are on the board, and so they're now in oversight,” he said. “Before, there wasn't as much, so now we have stakeholders in all the industries coming together. So if there is something important that we need to talk about, basically, we don't want an ‘ostrich’ situation in this province. We want to work with the farmers, we want to work with the ministry, and make sure that everybody is taken care of.”
What people fail to understand is, he said, is “empathy is important in this job.”
“It is easier for me to go, or one of the APOs, to go into an area where they see a dead cow, get a complaint, and then go in, and then by the law, I can take everybody out,” Thirukketheesawaranathan said.
“What we want to know is, why is this farmer's cow done? What's happening to them… because, again, that's $2,000 worth of money that just died, right? No one's going to willingly let something go in. There's going to have that one per cent that is, which we will act, but we want our APOs right here to act in that capacity with the compassion, so that it doesn't reoccur. That's the big change, is more empathetic…and also working with the other agencies to see how we can do collaboration. So this year's word is collaboration."
He also said that part of their requirement is that every officer takes psychological first aid. “That's one of the reasons we work closely with all the other agencies. We want to make sure we can provide the same way the police agency does, is to be a holistic approach rather than just 'black and white' and go and then do it.”
As for some of the most pressing concerns facing animal enforcement for their officers right now, Thirukketheesawaranathan points to fictitious complaints from people who "get right off the bat, hot, so it's on that,” he said. “So when we get there, it has nothing to do with the actual situation.”
He pointed to situations such as a dispute with neighbours, where a neighbour would call and complain about an incident, with the result being “an officer would spend four and a half hours to find out that the dog was just barking.”
“Ninety per cent of ours is fictitious complaints. And we have to sort that out, and we have an awesome team that's going to do that."
He adds that when officers show up, people "get scared. So we want to provide that approach, and that's what we want to be here to say: we're here first to talk to you, and then we'll work with you.”
As for how the changeover will affect the average person in Saskatchewan, the biggest one is the name change.
Thirukketheesawaranathan said the “addresses, the phone numbers, all will be the same. Same with the websites, we're redirecting it. Because again, some of us are from the old agency, and a lot of us are new, so we'll be integrating it together. So from a province's standpoint, it's a seamless transition.”
