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From the Canada Criminal Code:

Cruelty to Animals

Causing unnecessary suffering

445.1 (1) Every one commits an offence who

(a) wilfully causes or, being the owner, wilfully permits to be caused unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal or a bird;

Punishment

(2) Every one who commits an offence under subsection (1) is guilty of

(a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years; or

(b) an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term of not more than eighteen months or to both.

Failure to exercise reasonable care as evidence

(3) For the purposes of proceedings under paragraph (1)(a), evidence that a person failed to exercise reasonable care or supervision of an animal or a bird thereby causing it pain, suffering or injury is, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, proof that the pain, suffering or injury was caused or was permitted to be caused wilfully, as the case may be.


From The Globe and Mail article, Killing them with kindness:

Bobik, a 12-year-old shepherd-cross, died slowly.

His shelter medical records show that in April of 2007 he was a friendly but aging 33.5-kilogram (74-pound) dog with a slight limp. Between his large size, his arthritis, hip dysplasia, alopecia, and deafness, families weren't lining up to adopt him.

After more than a year in the shelter, he went to live with one of the THS's foster parents.

On May 11, barely five months after a leg amputation that removed a cancerous limb, Bobik's foster mother brought him in for care at the THS.

The incision from his leg amputation re-opened, his breathing was laboured, saliva dripped from his mouth and there was blood in his stool.

On the afternoon of May 12, after bleeding from his anus for two days, Bobik died.

Most shelters would have put Bobik down, said two veterinarians, as the cancer in his leg was likely to spread, and learning to walk on three legs can be difficult for an arthritic dog with hip dysplasia. Indeed, internal records show that many animals admitted to the THS die slow deaths rather being euthanized.


From The Toronto Humane Society website:

"Staff members and volunteers have earned the right to take pride in the care they have given the animals."
Tim Trow, President