Exposing the elephant in the room? Connecting speciesism to Canadian animal welfare legislation

Speciesism is a form of discrimination resulting in the unequal treatment of non-human animals based on the perceptions of human beings. This article aims to make a connection between speciesism and animal welfare legislation, focusing on how animal welfare protections are impacted by the anthropocentric views of specific animal species. We draw upon scholarship, legislation, and Canadian case law and examples to do so. While there is significant existing research, scholars continue to suggest speciesism and the inadequate state of animal welfare laws are distinct from one another. Our findings demonstrate how human preferences and perceptions of particular animals create injustices by and through speciesism. When legal reform and animal welfare legislation does not take seriously animal rights and dignity, law becomes a product of speciesism, and a tool for it to survive. A failure for Canadian animal welfare legislation to take seriously the sentience and dignity of all animals will have significant consequences for animals, ecosystems, and humans alike. We conclude by outlining necessary recommendations to reject—if not combat, at minimum—speciesism in the Canadian context.