SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A revised Dog Act was presented to the legislative assembly Monday, a step that is long overdue, says Nicole Spencer, NWT SPCA president.

Nicole Spencer, NWT SPCA president, with her seven-year-old beagle Blue on Monday night. Spencer said she's happy to hear the penalties for abusing or neglecting dogs are increasing under the Revised Dog Act. - Nicole Veerman/NNSL photo

"Any changes will be better than none. (But) of course it's just the Dog Act, we still need something to protect the other animals as well," she said.

The Northwest Territories has the worst animal legislation in the country, said Spencer.

Under the current act an offender can only get a fine of $25 or 30 days in jail for neglecting or abusing a dog, while in other parts of the country, people can face years in jail or thousands of dollars in fines.

"Right now, people get a slap on the wrist, if that, so if there's stronger legislation, maybe people will think twice about neglecting or abusing (their dogs)," said the dog owner.

Robert C. McLeod, minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, presented the revised act for the first reading.

He said the major change to the act is the definition of acceptable living standards for dogs, which will provide courts and enforcement officers with a clear set of standards.

The old act, which was instated in the 1950s, was more concerned with protecting humans from animals, said the minister.

"Things have changed a lot since then, and now the concern is that dogs need to be looked after, too," he said. "That's one of the reasons that we decided to do the amendments to the Dog Act."

The new act will increase the maximum fine for the first offence up to $5,000 or three months imprisonment and any subsequent offence would be a maximum of $10,000 or six months imprisonment.

"The dog act is a very old piece of legislation, so this is a huge spike. Hopefully this will be a deterrent to those out there who are hoarding animals or mistreating dogs."

In June, a Hay River woman was charged with hoarding 109 dogs, who were considered to be unnecessarily suffering. She was also charged with allowing a dog to remain unfed or unwatered long enough to amount to animal cruelty under the GNWT's current Dog Act.

In October of 2009, six puppies were found with their throats slit at the Behchoko dump. Only one survived.

Spencer said examples like these are the reason the act needs to be changed.

"We need proper legislation so people don't get away with abusing and neglecting animals," she said.

"I'd like to take all of them into my house, but of course I can't do that ... So hopefully they made some beneficial changes."

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