WV dog puncher gets 30 days jail

Judge: 'Something in his life appears to have gone off the rails'

Joanna Habdak
jhabdank@nsnews.com

A West Vancouver man convicted of punching his dog several times in front of an animal shelter and of assaulting an animal control officer was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years probation by a Vancouver provincial court judge on Tuesday.

Judge Thomas Gove found Colin Mastin, 39, guilty on the two counts in April but delayed the sentencing pending a psychiatric report to be viewed by both Crown and defence lawyers.

The judge said he was satisfied that Mastin was not suffering from a mental illness, based on the report and a pre-sentencing report, but that he had a difficult time dealing with circumstances at the time and "something in his life appears to have gone off the rails," he said.

"He separated from his girlfriend of many years. He tried to get back with her but she wasn't interested," said Gove, adding that otherwise, he was an "educated, employed, athletic" person.

The incident occurred on Sept. 24, 2006, outside the City of Vancouver pound in Vancouver. Shelter worker Jennifer Ley testified during the trial that when Mastin came to pick up his border collie, Bandit, he grabbed the lead from her and twisted her arm, bending her thumb backwards. She went inside to tell her supervisor what happened, and when she returned she said she saw Mastin punch his dog with a closed fist near the scruff of the neck about eight times. Shelter staff eventually wrested the dog away from him.

Ley suffered damage to her hand, which Gove said continues to be problematic to this day. The dog suffered some soft-tissue injury, but the "injuries were far less than the injuries to Ms. Ley," said the judge.

Mastin, who had pleaded not guilty to the charges, told the judge that it "is unfortunate that Ms. Ley had to be injured. It is regretful."

While Gove did not think that Mastin intended to hurt his dog, he said the way he hurt Ley was outrageous.

At the time Mastin was free on bail and facing separate charges in North Vancouver.

When sentencing, Gove took into consideration that Mastin had not breached his bail conditions following his release from custody and that he was already in counselling to help him deal with his break-up.

Since Mastin has already spent 90 days in custody for the animal cruelty and assault charges before being released on bail he has already served his sentence.

The judge also ordered Mastin to be on three years probation and to stay away from the animal control shelter and to have no direct or indirect contact with Ley.

Crown lawyer Amy Campbell argued that Mastin should receive a sentence of up to 45 days and not be allowed to own a dog for a 10-year period, even though he previously testified that he loved his dog and would not harm him intentionally.

She also said that Mastin still poses a risk because he had not exhibited remorse and has denied the need for change.

But Mastin's lawyer, Michael Smith, said that last summer his client exhibited out-of-character behaviour and that he was sorry for hurting Ley.

Smith showed the judge several reference letters, which the judge took into account during sentencing. He said that Mastin did not intend to harm either Ley or his dog.

"I understand this is an employee and she doesn't deserve to have that happen. But it wasn't intended assault," he said. "It does appear to be a case where somebody was overly frustrated and angry."

Smith told the judge that Mastin has already been dealing with a separate case in North Vancouver and that his every appearance in court was reported by local papers.

"I think this must have hit home," he said, adding that it has served as a deterrence.

In March, Mastin was found guilty by a North Vancouver provincial court judge for assaulting a security guard in May 2006.

published on 05/23/2007