Animal cruelty cases in Calgary rise sharply in recent years: StatCan

Animal cruelty cases reported to Calgary police have risen sharply in the last couple of years; however, the stats may not reflect the full scope of animal abuse.

According to Statistics Canada’s recent crime and justice report, the number of animal cruelty incidents in Calgary reported to police has risen significantly over the last few years. From nine in 2022 to 64 in 2024.

Parachutes for Pets provides safekeeping services for animals with owners undergoing serious life challenges, such as being unhoused, facing domestic violence and elder abuse.

“So that will be a family, a wife, a husband, anyone facing domestic violence. A lot of the time, it’s towards the animal as well. In the last few months, we’ve definitely had a lot,” said operations manager Baylee Dorchester.

“When we first started, there wasn’t that many. But in the last few months, we definitely had a lot of domestic violence cases. They usually come straight from (Calgary Police Service).”

The Canadian Criminal Code says animal cruelty can include causing unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal or bird by failure to exercise reasonable care.

Brad Nichols, the Calgary Humane Society’s enforcement officer, says it enforces the Animal Protection Act.

“Embedded within that is physical abuse, so violent acts, abandonment of animals, and then a number of different types of neglect,” he said.

Despite the uptick in reports, the Calgary Humane Society says the number of documented animal cruelty cases doesn’t accurately reflect what’s happening.

“We stay very busy, investigating 1,000 to 1,200 files a year. And we keep Calgary Police fairly busy with the criminal element of animal cruelty as well,” Nichols said.

The cause for this increase in cruelty can be multi-layered, but Dorchester says one big factor is that more people have pets now than just a few years ago.

“And with backyard breeding and all that sort of stuff, there’s not that much vetting with the people that are taking the animals,” she said.

“And then … mental health, addiction struggles–we see all that sort of stuff, and that can push it forward so much more.”

Although the number of reported incidents has increased in recent years, the number of people charged with crimes has remained relatively low.

Out of the 64 cases reported to police last year, only 13 people were charged.