Hard Lessons Learned - updated with judges decision

From the Hawk 101.5 website http://www.1015thehawk.com/news/news_item.asp?NewsID=5672 this afternoon:
Guilty pleas in Celtic Pets case
Friday, December 05, 2008 , 13:30
Almost 9 months after charges were laid, two local women have pleaded guilty to causing an animal distress under the Provincial Animal Act.
43 year old Zonda MacIsaac and 64 year old Alice MacIsaac were in Port Hawkesbury Provincial court on Friday.
What was supposed to be a preliminary voir-dire quickly changed direction with the guilty pleas.
The charges stem from a raid at Zonda MacIsaac's Celtic Pets rescue shelter in West Bay Road in February. More than 90 cats and dogs were seized.
25 more animals were seized from Alice MacIsaac's home about a week later.
The crown and defense presented their joint sentencing recommendation to the judge, which includes a $1000 fine for each woman.
A prohibition order was also recommended and although the order would see both Zonda and Alice MacIsaac banned from operating any type of animal rescue shelter for the next 20 years, Crown Prosecutor Dan MacRury notes that the two can keep their pets.
"I think there was a past history that these people treated animals very fairly, however, it's very clear that they can't look after a large number of animals and that's the facts that I had to make the decision on."
The judge will make a decision on the recommendation Friday afternoon.
The Judge has since agreed to the sentencing recommendations made by the Crown and Defence.
Well then..... at the end of the day its almost anticlimactic to see this particular marathon winding down. Sadly, there is nothing on the books at any level to address the culpability for decisions that were made by certain individuals involved in both the society BOD and the Metro Shelter.
It is a refreshing change of pace to see in the online minutes of the Oct 27th meeting of the BOD http://www.spcans.ca/resources/BOD_Minutes/PublicMinutes_2008Oct27.pdf, that care is being taken to separate the responsibilities and to build in accountability. It is to be hoped that this will avoid any repetition of this spring's debacle.... when the love of power used and manipulated good hearted people.
At a time when the society had an unprecedented opportunity to garner public sympathy and support, instead those consumed by the love of power very nearly had it circling the bowl instead.
I am fifty four, not four, so I know full well that Happily Ever After is seldom found outside of the stories I now read to my granddaughter. In real life, sometimes the bad guys get to walk away. Here in the real world, there is no magic wand to instantly transform the society.
It is a very good thing, then, that there are a few good people whose goals for the society are defined by their power of love for the animals. While we should never forget the story of last spring and summer, its good to see the BOD trying to shape a better future.
That might not be a storybook ending, but it sure promises a happier tail next time.