Canadians want to see a ban on wildlife markets and an end to the commercial wildlife trade
News
More than one million people* globally have signed petitions to G20 government leaders, urging them to curb the global wildlife trade. In Canada, 30,000 concerned residents have signed our petition and according to our latest polling data, Canadians want to see our government act on this issue.
*As of November 2020.
In July 2020, World Animal Protection commissioned Northstar Research Partners to conduct an online survey among a nationally representative sample of Canadian residents to understand the perspective we have on the wildlife trade.
The results are clear: Canadians care greatly about wild animals and their fate.
- 75% want the Federal government to support a permanent ban on wildlife markets.
- 70% support a ban on the commercial trade in wild animals, with 1 out of 5 Canadians being in support of better regulations and measures to control the trade.
- A majority does not support the use of wildlife for trophy hunting, fur, exotic pets, traditional medicine and entertainment.
- Nearly all Canadians agree that the wildlife trade is cruel and can cause suffering (93%), threatens biodiversity (89%), and public health (89%).
See the full poll from NorthStar here.
We can no longer afford to ignore the fact that the current pandemic and previous major epidemics around the world are fundamentally linked to our poor treatment and exploitation of wild animals and our encroachment on their habitats. Millions of wild animals are captured, bred and traded every year for a variety of purposes including food, traditional medicine and as exotic pets. Animal suffering occurs and zoonotic infections can spread at every stage of the trade.
The Federal government can take the following steps to answer the call of a growing coalition of Canadian and international animal protection organizations, academics, conservationists, zoonotic disease experts, and concerned Canadians by:
- Urging other G20 countries to support the immediate and permanent closure of wild animal markets.
- Committing at the G20 to end the international trade in wild animals and wild animal products that could contribute to the spread of zoonotic diseases.
Working with provinces and territories to mitigate risks to public health, animal welfare and our natural environment inherent to the keeping, use and trade of wild animals and to harmonize and strengthen regulations and enforcement to drastically reduce captive breeding, transport and the physical and online trade in wild animals.
Sign the petition to join our campaign
Join us and thousands of other Canadians in calling on the Canadian government to support and champion a global ban on the wildlife trade. Sign now: