About B.E.S.A.

What is BESA ?

B.E.S.A. is a non-profit organization registered with the Quebec provincial government.

Its goal is to defend all animals in Quebec, by encouraging public discussion of the exploitation and mistreatment of domestic and wild animals in the food industry, in laboratories and teaching, in the clothing trade and in the entertainment sector.

It also offers educational and organizational tools for the public and animal rights activists.

B.E.S.A. also promotes a plant-based diet and works to coordinate various actions within the animal rights movement in Quebec.

Our story

BESA was founded by people with very different backgrounds and personalities, but who all agreed on the same important value: the protection of animals and their rights. For a long time, we all thought that animals were well treated in our province, until we realized that the reality was much darker than we thought.

We decided to found BESA when we saw that animal rights were struggling to make headway in Quebec. Yet the number of animals killed and exploited in our province runs into the hundreds of millions a year, and these animals are so close to us and the cats and dogs we know so well.

But these animals have no rights and no voice in our societies; someone has to speak for them. Someone has to reveal what’s behind the packaging, behind the colourful smiles, and behind the pretty pictures in the ads. And that’s what we decided to do..

Our methods

Our first lever of action is to inform the public about what industries would prefer to keep in the dark when it comes to animals. We believe that democratic discussions about animals and their rights cannot take place while their living conditions remain hidden or fantasized about by marketing. Our approach is evidence-based: we follow the numbers, the facts, and the data wherever they lead so that we can identify the real problems facing animals.

Our second lever is political: we want the Quebec government to take real action to recognize and protect the rights of all animals, not just pets. In Quebec, a given rabbit can have radically different rights depending on whether it’s a pet, an animal in the wild or an animal on a farm. We believe that the rights of animals should depend on their sentient nature, not on where they are (or where they are forced to be).

Our third lever is economic. We want to change this system, which constantly pushes us to produce more and produce more cheaply, while denying our principles. This system has dramatic results for the animals, but also for the people who work in the industries linked to their exploitation. We want to help ensure that our industries transition to activities and products that reduce the suffering and death we cause animals, while maximizing human dignity and well-being.

Why "BESA" ?

“BESA” is in fact an acronym for Bien Être et Sécurité Animale (animal welfare and safety). This is a reference to the name given to Quebec’s Bill B-31 passed in 2015.

The original spirit of the law is laudable; its first amendments recognize that animals are sentient beings endowed with rights and must be protected from all unnecessary mistreatment, pain, or death.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of animals in the province are excluded from this law. Section 7 states that these rights do not apply to animals used in agriculture, recreation, or experimentation, for whom only the “generally accepted rules” are decided by the industries.

We want Bill B-31 to be amended in the future to include all animals, so that the values they represent are truly recognized and integrated into Quebec society.