Man sentenced for abuse of puppies left in snow
Last Updated: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 9:18 AM AT
CBC News
A Cape Breton man charged with abandoning puppies has been handed a conditional sentence.
The RCMP said the man from Wagmatcook was sentenced last week in Baddeck provincial court on five counts of animal cruelty.
The man, who was not named by RCMP, is required to perform community service and is prohibited from possessing firearms for three years.
The man and a male youth were charged after five dogs were found in the snow near Hunter's Mountain last winter.
Two puppies had suffered blows to the head and died. The other three survived and were given new homes.
A veterinarian at the Baddeck Veterinary Clinic said the three puppies he saw were dehydrated, malnourished and had puncture wounds. One had a broken leg.
RCMP said a youth from Wagmatcook who was sentenced in the same case received a probation order, which includes community service.
This is exactly the kind of soft penalty that fails to protect the animals. Back when the story broke, animal lovers around the province were horrified. There were high hopes when the RCMP pursued the investigation and arrested 2 men, one of whom was a youth . At the time, I did a post called, A few home truths that discussed the need for more meaningful penalties for animal abuse.
Abandoning the five puppies to fend for themselves in the sub zero temperatures of the middle of a Cape Breton winter was horrible enough on its own. But these two men did not stop there .... two of the puppies had fatal head injuries and all of them were suffering from hypothermia, malnutrition, dehydration and puncture wounds.
Conditional sentence? Community service? Yup ... that'll stop the next round of animal abusers and killers in their tracks.
What time is it? Its time to remember that judicial penalties exist to provide an effective deterrent for unacceptable behavior. If you would like to express your concern about this latest episode in a long list of failure for the animals:
- contact our Premier, the Honorable Darrell Dexter at premier@gov.ns.ca
- contact our Justice Minister, the Hon Ross Landry at justmin@gov.ns.ca
- and find the contact your own MLA at, Members - Constituencies
"Laws control the lesser man. Right conduct controls the greater one" Mark Twain
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