Alberta man gets house arrest for inflicting 'unimaginable suffering' on dog
James Stevenson, Canadian Press
Published: Friday, May 11, 2007
DIDSBURY, Alta. (CP) - Outrage quickly followed an Alberta teenager's sentence of three months house arrest and two years probation Thursday for his "extreme callousness" on a pet dog that was run over, beaten, dragged and left to die.
Provincial court Judge Peter Barley said he accepted the teen's explanation that he accidentally backed over Daisy Duke, a Lab-border collie cross belonging to a friend's mother, last October. But then he panicked and tried to avoid responsibility.
"It's not the case of a deliberate torture of an animal," Barley said while sentencing the teen in the central Alberta farming community of Didsbury.
"It was a case of stupidity ... in the extreme."
A small group of animal rights activists who had travelled from across Alberta for the sentencing were furious at the result.
"I'm appalled that they would actually believe that these kids hit this dog unintentionally and then didn't get it medical treatment," said Calgarian Heather Anderson.
And in Ottawa, Liberal MP Mark Holland, who's put forward a private members' bill to modernize Canada's animal cruelty laws for the first time in a century, said it was disappointing.
"That doesn't sound like much of a sentence for such a horrendous crime."
In an agreed statement of facts in the case, the teen - who was just weeks away from his 18th birthday at the time of the crime and therefore can't be named - admitted that he was afraid of losing his drivers' licence because he had backed up and hit Daisy.
The statement said he and the friend then decided that to avoid getting caught, they would kill Daisy and pretend she had run away.
He said they taped a plastic bag over the dog's head to asphyxiate it and when that didn't work, they duct-taped the dog's muzzle and legs, the statement said.
When that didn't kill the dog, the teen said he hit it over the head with a shovel.
Trying to take the dog out of town, the teen tied dragged it three blocks behind a car before running over it again and snapping the tow-rope.
The animal was later found still alive in the middle of an intersection and had to be destroyed by a veterinarian.
Defence lawyer Brian Forestell told court it was a "poorly thought-out euthanasia attempt."
The youth "realized that the most important thing was to put this dog out of its misery," said Forestell.
"His steps were wrong and he realizes this," adding that his client did plead guilty to the crime of animal cruelty.
Crown lawyer Richelle Freiheit argued that it was a premeditated case of "horrific gratuitous violence."
"This is not a one-punch, thin-skulled situation," Freiheit told court. "These boys discussed it and deliberated on how to get away with it."
Outside of court. Freiheit said she had not seen any similar animal abuse cases, and said it had provoked an unprecedented amount of community outrage.
"We've had a number of e-mails and a number of letters that were sent in, more than any murder case I've ever seen. I think it's an interesting comment."
An adult convicted of animal cruelty under the Criminal Code can face a maximum sentence of six months in jail and/or a $2,000 fine.
Asked if she thought Thursday's conditional sentence was fair, Freiheit said: "Well, he's not going to jail."
Daniel Charles Haskett, 19, is also charged in the case. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of injuring or endangering an animal and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. The charges have yet to be proven in court. His trial is set to start on May 23.
In delivering his sentence, the judge ruled the youth thought the dog was already dead when he dragged it. But that did not excuse the "extreme callousness" of his act.
"The suffering of Daisy is unimaginable, but it must be noted that the Crown cannot prove if the young person knew she was dead," Barley said.
The man, who lives with his parents in Didsbury, can't be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. He will have to abide by a curfew for nine months after his house arrest is up and also do 240 hours of community service.
The case triggered a national petition with more than 110,000 signatures calling for stronger federal legislation against animal abuse.
Earlier this year, the Conservative government said it would support a bill introduced by Liberal Senator John Bryden, known as Bill S-213, which would raise the maximum jail term to five years and the maximum fine to $10,000.
However, many animal rights groups support Holland's private member's bill that he says would give the judiciary "the tools they need to get convictions." Currently he says only one quarter of one per cent of all animal rights cases end in a conviction.
Holland says the Bryden bill would only be used as an excuse by the ruling Tories for not doing anything more to stop animal abuse.
© The Canadian Press 2007