The Chief Veterinary Office for the Province of Manitoba (CVO) is a governing body responsible for animal welfare in the province. There are similar organizations in all other provinces in Canada but the information here is just about Manitoba. We made the mistake of trusting them and treating them like we were colleagues with the same goals. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way that this was not the case. I am writing this blog post in hopes it can be found by others dealing with this government office and trying to figure out how to navigate the system.
I want to be clear, we fully support the work of the CVO and want to see all animals protected from harm, abuse and neglect. However, I would describe our experience with them as one of overreach of their power. What I am sharing here I wish we had known from the start.
Make sure you are versed in these three documents:
- National Code of Practice for the Care of Equines
- Animal Care Act of Manitoba
- Animal Care Regulation
Protect yourself at each interaction:
- Have a witness wherever possible
- Record all conversation with audio or video if possible
In September 2023 we were put under a “Director’s Order to Take Action” under Section 10.1(1) of the Animal Care Act. The person who delivered the order made it sound like it was not a big deal since we were working to make improvements towards any concerns they had. He told me we could appeal the order but that there wasn’t much point as it would be gone in a year anyway. I mistakenly believed him and set the order aside while continuing to go about caring for the animals here. DO NOT MAKE THIS MISTAKE! If you are placed under a Director’s Order appeal it immediately. The papers you are supplied with explain the process and you will only have 7 days to submit your appeal.
In May 2024, despite the CVO telling us they were happy with the changes we were making, they came to our property and coerced me into surrendering 10 small farm animals. Their reasoning behind this was that two sheep were limping, one goat had an infected cut, one duck had an injured leg and the rabbits were kept in unsanitary conditions. I was not home when this happened but was told over the phone what they had done and why. I was told I could appeal it and it would become “a whole big thing” or I could “voluntarily surrender” the animals and they would “go away”, making me feel as if the other animals at the ranch would be safe. They assured me they would find good homes for these animals. Once again I trusted them and made the mistake of verbally surrendering these animals to them to secure the safety of the others. DO NOT DO THIS!!!! Fight them every step of the way on this! There is a provision in the Animal Care Act, Section 10.2(1), that allows the CVO to obtain a Justice Order to seize animals and restrict the number of animals you can own, possess or control. That is exactly what happened to us. The Animal Care Appeal Board Guidelines
This small seizure allowed the CVO to go to a Judicial Justice of the Peace and get an order restricting me from having any animals except my two cats and two dogs for the next three years. We are appealing this order but if we are not successful it could effectively put The Barefoot Ranch out of business. If you get to this point the process gets quite complicated and there are very few lawyers who are familiar with the Animal Care Act of Manitoba and how to fight it. It took us almost 30 days trying to navigate the legal process to figure out how to appeal the order. They only allow 30 days to file an appeal and we almost ran out of time. I am sharing this information so others can learn from our experience. Again, we fully support the work of the CVO and want to see all animals protected from harm, abuse and neglect. But we also want animals that are legitimately being cared for to be protected from any abuses of their powers.
If you can find a lawyer that will help you navigate the process, please do. Legal Aid will not support you through it so your only other option will be the Free Legal Help Centre. They are wonderful and will help you the best they can. If you have been served a Justice Order you need to file an appeal through The Court of King’s Bench in your jurisdiction. To do that you will need to complete the following documents:
- Form 14B – Notice of Application
- Form 4D – Affidavit with Exhibits (exhibits are your pieces of evidence, marked as Exhibit A, Exhibit B, etc)
Each of these forms has a small page of instructions attached as the last page that will help you figure out what you need to do. Make three copies of your completed forms and evidence, one to file with the court, one to serve the CVO and one for yourself. Once you have filed the copy with the courts you will need to serve the CVO with one copy with the hearing date and time on them. Their office is located at the Agricultural Service Building, 545 University Crescent, Winnipeg, MB.
The next step is to complete these forms:
Form 70C needs to be taken with your Notice of Application and Affidavit (stamped by the Court of King’s Bench) to the CVO office. The receptionist will buzz you in and then call someone down to complete your Acknowledgment of Service and witness it. You will then take that form and complete the Affidavit of Service and file both those forms at the Court of King’s Bench.
Any supporting Affidavits from your vet, farrier, volunteers, anyone else with personal knowledge of how your farm operates can complete their own affidavits with supporting evidence and file it with the Court of King’s Bench. Any of these supporting documents need to be filed by 2:00 p.m. the day prior to the hearing.
Chances are you are going to get the run around if you want to get a copy of the document they put in front of the JJP to approve the Order Restricting Ownership of Animals, don’t waste your time. All you have to do is send an email request to: requestforcopies@gov.mb.ca. Once they find the file for you they will send you a small bill to email you the copy, ours was $26.50 and they emailed me the document the same day.
When the hearing day finally comes, they are going to request an adjournment and ask you to agree to follow the Court of King’s Bench Rule and Timelines. I believe this is something that is in both parties best interest. Obviously, not the animals best interest. These are the timelines:
- Get all your evidence including affidavits with proof of ownership from all borders and pending adoptions – 30 days
- They have 30 days to respond to your evidence
- You have 20 days to respond to their evidence
- Both parties have 20 days to complete cross-examination of any affidavits submitted
- You have 10 days to file an addition brief
- They have 20 more days to file their brief
- It get’s set down for a contested hearing which will probably be withing a week or two of that