The Ontario government is changing its animal protection laws, after being criticized for having the most lax legislation in the country.
 
The province is introducing legislation Thursday that will overhaul the 90-year-old Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
 
The new legislation is expected to impose new rules on roadside zoos and make animal cruelty a provincial offence.
 
It is also expected to give the Ontario SPCA, which carries out animal cruelty investigations for the province, the right to inspect the province's 50 roadside zoos and hold owners to a higher standard.
 
Melissa Tkachyk, with the World Society for the Protection of Animals, says the bill has been a long time coming.
 
Ontario is the "absolute worst" in the country right now when it comes to protecting animals, she said.