Animal Advocates Watchdog

Will there, won't there be a trial?

Will there, won't there be a trial?

Public feelings were white hot when Ms Moriarty, BCSPCA manager of Cruelty Investigations, was certain that charges could be laid

January 31: National Post

"There are provisions in the SPCA act that allow for Criminal Code charges and Moriarty said this case warrants them: “Dogs crawling around in a mass grave; half of one’s face blown off — if those actions don’t constitute Criminal Code offence, I don’t know what does.

"Ms. Moriarty has said it’s often difficult to prosecute Criminal Code cases on animal cruelty charges. However, “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a case where a person admits shooting off the face of a dog,” she said.

"Ms. Moriarty said the man says he was more or less ordered to kill the dogs, but that’s no excuse and he’s culpable."

AAS comment: The SPCA and Ms Moriarty in particular, has often tried people in the media before a trial, and even before charges are laid. This may be defamation (in fact, many victims of the SPCA's brutal and flagrant public condemnation have only been prevented from starting an action for defamation because of the prohibitive cost (not prohibitive to the SPCA of course, with a $28 million budget: See the details of the SPCA's defamation SLAPP suit against Judy Stone, founder of AAAS at http://www.animaladvocates.com/lawsuit ); or it may be against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 11:

Any person charged with an offence has the right:

(d) to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal.

It's hard to see how there can be an impartial tribunal once the SPCA is finished with trying Mr Fawcett in the media. On the other hand a trial could turn public and government opinion against the SPCA if it happened to reveal how often the SPCA had been satisfied with the treatment of the dogs so perhaps it's not in the SPCA's best interests for there to be a trial.

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/1.html#anchorbo-ga:l_I-gb:s_7

Read more:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/01/31/100-sled-dogs-in-bc-killed-following-lull-in-adventure-tourism-report/

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Court grants the SPCA access to the WorkSafe BC files it wants to investigate to have the charges laid that Ms Moriarty is so sure will stick

Feb 6: The Province
"Marcie Moriarty, general manager of cruelty investigations, said the judge allowed the B.C. SPCA access to the [WorkSafe BC] files – except for confidential health files that the group didn’t want to access.

“We were never interested in any private medical files,” Moriarty told The Province.

“We just wanted the information that would pertain to the incident, and that was what was granted.”

Moriarty said the court victory will assist the SPCA in continuing with its investigation, with the ultimate goal of laying animal-cruelty charges.

“It helps us to proceed with the investigation,” said Moriarty. “We will be working with Crown to proceed with charges.”

Read more:

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Massacre+horrifies+shoots+sled+dogs+execution+style+after+Olympic+slowdown/4197145/story.html#ixzz1E42WoZWB

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Now Ms Moriarty says there isn't sufficient evidence to support her allegations against Mr Fawcett of sickening cruelty, the worst cruelty she has ever seen

Feb 9: The Whistler Pique:

"The BC SPCA is now conducting an investigation into the incident with the assistance of the RCMP. Marcie Moriarty, head of the SPCA's cruelty investigations division, said the organization does not yet have sufficient evidence to bring charges to Crown counsel."

AAS comment: Somehow the SPCA knew that the dogs were shot inhumanely. “Dogs crawling around in a mass grave; half of one’s face blown off — if those actions don’t constitute Criminal Code offence, I don’t know what does." Those are Ms Moriarty's words. We don't think Ms Moriarty was just guessing when she made that statement. We think that she is quoting Mr Fawcett's words from his WorkSafe BC claim as her boss, CEO Craig Daniell, also did on the SPCA's website: "In most cases dogs were shot more than once, or had their throats slashed before they were dumped into what is described in the documents as a mass grave. The report also states that some of the dogs were still alive when thrown into the grave." http://www.spca.bc.ca/news-and-events/news/investigation-launched-into.html

"The SPCA is currently waiting on disclosure of the whole WorkSafe BC file and a judge will rule on disclosing it February 14."

Read more http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/pique/index.php?cat=C_Frontpage&content=Dog+death+1806

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What options other than a prosecution does Ms Moriarty have in mind?

Feb 14: Dog Slaughter Update
CKNW Vancouver
Brett Mineer Email news tips to Brett

"The BC SPCA has been granted limited access to the WorkSafe BC files of the man who admitted to killing between 70 and 100 sled dogs near Whistler last year.

"The SPCA was after the full WorkSafe file on Bob Fawcett because the file includes his sworn statements about just what happened on the day of the cull.

"The head of Cruelty Investigations, Marty Moriarty was asked if investigators are still looking at criminal charges against Fawcett. Moriarty said, "At this stage we have all our options open and we'll just see where the investigation takes us from here."

AAS comment: What options other than a prosecution does Ms Moriarty have in mind? The SPCA said it knew that the dogs were violently, painfully, inhumanely and wilfully killed. That is covered by the BC Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Criminal Code. This investigation is a slam-dunk compared to some other cases the SPCA has had no trouble convincing Crown to prosecute and a court to convict.

WorkSafe BC and Fawcett’s employer, Outdoor Adventure Whistler applied jointly to block the release of the file citing privacy concerns.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Outdoor Adventures Whistler and WorkSafe BC had jointly applied to the courts to block the BC SPCA production order. Outdoor Adventures Whistler was not part of WorkSafe BC's court challenge.

Read more http://www.cknw.com/Channels/Reg/NewsLocal/Story.aspx?ID=1364207

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“We will be working with Crown to proceed with charges.”

Feb 15. The Province

The B.C. SPCA has jumped a legal hurdle in its investigation of a mass cull of sled dogs near Whistler.
The group went before a judge to access WorkSafe BC documents filed by Robert Fawcett, who has admitted to euthanizing 70 to 100 sled dogs after the 2010 Olympics.

Marcie Moriarty, general manager of cruelty investigations, said the judge allowed the B.C. SPCA access to the files – except for confidential health files that the group didn’t want to access.

“We were never interested in any private medical files,” Moriarty told The Province.

“We just wanted the information that would pertain to the incident, and that was what was granted.”

Moriarty said the court victory will assist the SPCA in continuing with its investigation, with the ultimate goal of laying animal-cruelty charges.

“It helps us to proceed with the investigation,” said Moriarty. “We will be working with Crown to proceed with charges.”

AAS comment: It will be interesting to see if this ever does get into a public courtroom where the SPCA may not look a lot better than Bob Fawcett. Mr Fawcett may have felt forced by the loss of his job in perhaps the only industry he knows to kill the dogs. He has a wife and children to support. On the other hand, the BC SPCA's 2009 revenues were $28 million, and Ms Drever may not to be in danger of losing her job even though she is culpable too. We hope there is a trial because The SPCA has so many times not prevented cruelty. The public and government must be informed of this for there to be real prevention of cruelty in BC.

http://www.theprovince.com/health/SPCA+gains+access+WorkSafe+files+Whistler+sled+deaths/4284286/story.html#ixzz1E436ltaK

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