North Island Gazette February 3, 2005
Crown counsel drops charges of animal cruelty

By Mark Allan
Gazette staff

Port Hardy's animal control officer will be spared a court appearance to defend herself from charges of animal cruelty and neglect.
Less than a week after the Gazette reported Paula Dillabough was facing the charges, Cpl. Rob Klassen of the Port Hardy RCMP issued a news release saying the Crown has decided to withdraw charges.
"As a result of reviewing new evidence that came forward and based on the review of all available evidence, this matter no longer meets the charge approval standard," Klassen said in the release.
The decision was made, he added, after consultation between the Crown, RCMP and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
In an earlier news release, the SPCA said charges were laid because Dillabough failed to seek veterinary care for a badly injured German shepherd-type dog admitted into her care Sept. 24.
Dillabough, under contract to the District of Port Hardy, said Monday she has been asked not to comment, although she would not reveal who asked her. Mayor Harry Mose said the District did not ask her to be silent about the matter, to his knowledge.
Mose indicated Monday that District officials, who spoke to Dillabough about the incident before charges were laid, would meet with her again "to discuss all aspects of her job."
Dillabough, said Mose, has about two years to go on her current contract. She continued to function as animal control officer even after she was charged, he added.
Mose said council will consider new wording to the animal control bylaw at a meeting Feb. 22 that he hopes will "clarify the options that the animal control officer has."
Under current regulations, Dillabough must keep an animal for three days at the pound to give its owners a chance to claim it before it is dealt with, which sometimes involves euthanasia.