We received the following letter written to Judge Marlene Graham after the November 2012 sentencing of Derick Collin Anderson who threw his girlfriend’s 11-week old Pomeranian puppy off a raised balcony and, because he didn’t die from the fall, proceeded to kick the puppy to death. Anderson then placed the puppy’s body in a recycling can and sent a series of texts to his girlfriend, Tamara Graham, telling her he’d killed their puppy, Cujo, and that the puppy’s eye popped out when he kicked him. The incident happened in September, 2010.
Derick Anderson
LOSER!
Saying that Anderson didn’t pose a significant enough threat to be locked up, the judge ordered him to serve a conditional jail sentence in the community of 10 months, which will include four months of house arrest followed by a curfew. Graham also ordered Anderson to seek treatment for a diagnosed mental illness, intermittent explosive disorder, which led him to attack Cujo, an 11-week-old Pomeranian pup.
Yes, an 11-week old puppy!
The Crown, represented by Prosecutor Gord Haight, had asked for a six- to eight-month jail sentence.
So if this doesn’t enrage you to the laxness in our animal cruelty laws, what does? Myrna Sentes, an animal welfare supporter wrote the following letter to the judge in response to this obvious miscarriage. To date, the judge has not responded.
December 1, 2012
The Honorable Judge Marlene Graham
Judge
Provincial Court of Alberta
601 – 5th Street S. W.
Calgary, AB T2P 5P7Dear Judge Graham,
On Thursday, November 29, 2012, three members of the DAISY Foundation, Delegates Against Inhumane Suffering Y, were in court for the sentencing of Derick Collin Anderson, who threw his girlfriend’s 11-week old Pomeranian puppy off a raised balcony and because it didn’t die, he then proceeded to kick it to death.
On Friday, November 30th I watched The Fifth Estate on “Hunting Magnotta”. It was very disturbing however, Magnotta, as well as many animal abusers, eventually turn from killing animals to killing people. This is well documented and these people are very sick.
For this reason I cannot understand why time after time the crown in these abuse cases asks for jail time and it is denied by the court. It would seem to me if a proper deterrent were imposed, maybe some of the abuse could be stopped.
Bringing up Derick Anderson’s childhood was nothing more than an excuse: his parents split up; he was abused; he has some kind of disorder. Because of psychiatrists everyone nowadays has some kind of disorder or syndrome. My husband is bi-polar. We’ve been married for 44 years and he manages his mental illness with medication. He has never beat an animal, his wife or his children, who have grown up, gotten university degrees and are loving and responsible. A number of people I know have left abusive relationships, and have raised their own children to be responsible, healthy adults. They don’t make excuses for their past, they live for the future.
Derick Anderson blames his past, his girlfriend, and his financial problems but he takes no responsibility himself. He merely takes his frustration out on an innocent little puppy!
I question his conditional sentence and his supposed “house arrest”. He still can go to work, do his DJ job at night, get food, take anger management courses and see his psychiatrist. He can be out all day and nights, when he works his DJ job. In other words, he has the same kind of freedom as I do. What kind of deterrent is that?
I also don’t believe he is going to change living arrangements with his sister and move out of his mother’s house. Why would he? And his “explosive anger disorder” that he supposedly didn’t know about? There is a reason why he hasn’t seen his children for 11 years!
The animal abuse laws have supposedly changed but they haven’t changed in favour of the animals. Animals are still considered disposable and the courts aren’t doing enough to stop this abuse.
Anderson’s lawyer says he has to do community service; he has to “give back”. How do you give a puppy back his life?
So where do we go from here? If the crown can’t count on the court to take a stand on animal abuse, who will? Maybe we should impose a law that states whatever the abuser did to the animal, that’s what his punishment should be. Or maybe we should just take him out behind the barn and beat the shit out of him! I think that kind of deterrent worked better than any of the laws we have now.
Time and again we go to these abuse court cases only to come away disappointed and frustrated. How many animals have to die before someone takes responsibility and the responsibility, I feel, is with the court system.
Yours truly,
Myrna Sentes,
Animal Welfare Supportercc: Heather Anderson, Founder, DAISY Foundation
KUDOS to this supporter! More people need to step up and speak against this kind of laxness in animal cruelty cases else we will never do right by our animal companions. As has been noted over and again, abuse against animals is a stepping stone to abuse against people. But beyond that, it is cruelty to a living being and should not be tolerated.
STEP UP! Be the voice for the voiceless!
Jail term sought for puppy killer
Calgary man avoids jail time for killing puppy
Derick Colin Anderson Kicked Pup To Death And Emailed Photos To Girlfriend, Avoids Jail
We have received word that Debbie Andrew’s former cat has been adopted. Having survived near death, he is living in a wonderful new home. Best to you, Harvie!
HARVIE THE RESCUED CAT FINDS LOVING HOME
by LAVERNE STEWART (Enable Javascript to see the email address)
A cat that was discovered severely dehydrated, starving and covered in fleas is now living in the lap of luxury.Hilda Alchorn, 76, has always been a cat lover. She went to the Oromocto SPCA last Saturday to donate food and left with two newly adopted cats.
One is a tiny orange female cat called Precious. The other was a neglected cat she’d read about in The Daily Gleaner.
The white cat with black markings — now named Harvie — was rescued from a home in Harvey Station on Sept. 13 by the New Brunswick SPCA and the RCMP.
When the cat was discovered in the house, along with the remains of two dogs and a rabbit, it had to be taken to a veterinarian for treatment. The next day it was placed in the care of the Oromocto SPCA.
SPCA staff members named him Newton. He was so badly flea-bitten, his white fur was stained orange from the blood, said shelter manager Tracy Marcotullio.
Over the past six weeks, the cat recovered from its trauma and was ready for adoption.
Alchorn just happened to ask Marcotullio about what happened to Newton while she was at the shelter to adopt Precious.
“She said, ‘He’s right there at your feet.’ He was rubbing my legs as much to say, ‘Here I am.’ I said ‘That’s it. He’s mine,’ ” Alchorn said.
Over the last six days, Alchorn has bonded with both of her cats but, she said, she has a special place in her heart for Harvie. She decided that since he came from Harvey Station she would keep the name but change the spelling slightly.
“He just wants me to love him all the time. He’s always up on my chest rubbing my face and purring. So I pet him and pet him. When I go to bed he’s right there along side of me,” she said.
Both cats are adjusting to one another, Alchorn and their new home.
Every morning Harvie the cat wakes Alchorn demanding his breakfast of wet cat food. He’s gaining weight, she said.
“If I don’t get up right away, he just curls up beside me and waits. He’s so sweet.”
As Alchorn talked about the joy this rescued cat has brought to her life, Harvie sat looking out the window at leaves falling from the trees outdoors.
Harvie and Precious, she said, will be indoor cats because she is worried they might get hurt if they go outside. Ever since her other cats died, Alchorn said she’s been feeling lonely and her two new pets are bringing her plenty of joy.
“I always have had cats. They are such good company. When I come home they are there waiting for me. Especially Harvie. He follows me around and I pick him up and I talk to him,” she said.
So Alchorn and her two newly adopted cats are happy with their new arrangement. She wonders what they are thinking but when Harvie crawls into her lap or stands on her chest it’s clear this is one contented kitty.
“When he looks me in the eye and he rubs my faces it’s almost as if he is saying, ‘I love you’. He’s adapted to being here as if he’s been here all of his life,” she said.
Help us spread the word! Print a poster and hang it up somewhere where people will see it! They come in two sizes!
The manager of the Oromocto SPCA wants to see a Canada-wide arrest warrant for Debbie Andrews for her alleged negligence that left two dogs and a rabbit dead and a cat barely alive. You can read the article below from The Daily Gleaner for more.
Click image to read the whole article.
We received the following letter today about a woman from New Brunswick against whom the Crown is expected to issue charges for the deaths of two dogs and a rabbit as well as the abuse of a dehydrated and starved cat who were in her care — at least until she went on vacation out of the country. Seems that maybe her vacation meant more to her than her responsibilities as a pet owner.
I have attached a news article from Friday’s paper about a woman who left New Brunswick to avoid being charged with animal abuse. She was living in Harvey Station, I believe it’s just outside of Fredericton.
Before she went on holidays to the Dominican Republic with her ten year old son, one of her dogs died. She just threw it in a garbage bag and left it in her back porch. She then went on holidays for TWO WEEKS and left behind a small black dog, a cat and a rabbit with no food or water. After six days the neighbours checked on her house since they didn’t see any activity and discovered the dog dead laying on the kitchen floor. They immediately called the RCMP who also found the rabbit dead left in a cage in the barn. Thankfully the cat survived, although just barely.
When she finally returned from her holidays she obviously found out she was wanted by the RCMP so she skipped town within hours of her return and moved to Alberta.
Not only does she think she got away with murder by moving away, what kind of message does this send to her ten year old son!!!
Just thought you might like to know you have another deadbeat animal abuser in Alberta and it will only be a matter of time before her son becomes an abuser as well.
While the sight of these magnificent animals and the pagentry that goes into every act is incredible, what is the cost to these animals just for our entertainment?
In a recent interview, Louis Leonard, Director of Cirque Estival, said that during the nearly 3-month 70-show tour, Limba the elephant (who was snared as a baby and enslaved for the past 40+ years) performs for about 7 minutes of each show.
The majority of elephants used in circuses are captured in the wild as babies. In 2000, poachers killed 60 free-roaming female elephants so that their babies could be collected and sold to the entertainment industry. The still-nursing elephants, all under the age of 3, refused to abandon their dead mothers, even attempting to suckle from their corpses.
Baby elephants born in breeding farms are torn from their mothers, tied with ropes, and kept in isolation until they learn to fear their trainers.
One study of traveling circuses observed an elephant who spent up to 96 percent of her time in chains. The circus deprives animals of their basic needs to exercise, roam, socialize, forage, and play.
Repetitive and often destructive behaviors such as obsessive swaying, bobbing, chewing, sucking, weaving, rocking, and licking are common in circus animals, and are manifestations of their extreme stress and boredom.
Abusive training techniques, lack of socialization and other stimuli, and constant confinement often causes animals to become so stressed that they become dangerous, lashing out at trainers and spectators. Deaths and injuries from such incidents are not uncommon.
In the wild, elephants don’t balance themselves on three legs atop a stool while twirling hula-hoops around their trunks and legs.
That’s for our entertainment.
Surely you do not support this abusive treatment of animals. Surely this is not what you want your children to learn. And surely this is not worth spending your money on to support.
(Today’s Date)
(Name, title and address of recipient)
Dear (full name and title of recipient),
I would like to bring to your attention to the plight of circus animals forced to perform in (insert name of your community) and request that you enact a ban of animal acts in entertainment as soon as possible.
Animals used in circuses endure appalling conditions for the duration of their lives. Training methods used on these wild and exotic animals include beating, electric shock, food and water deprivation, and chaining. Performing animals travel for up to 50 weeks of the year, often in unheated and unventilated trucks. Denied social interaction, exercise, and freedom, these majestic animals endure tremendous suffering in the name of frivolous entertainment.
As a result, circus animals can pose a serious threat to public safety. These wild animals often rebel from the miserable conditions under which they are forced to live, and in the past ten years alone, over 220 people have been killed or seriously injured by rampaging elephants in circuses and zoos.
There are many ways for us to teach our children about wild animals. Removing elephants, tigers and bears etc. from their natural environment and forcing them to perform unnatural, often painful, tricks while in captivity is not one of them.
I appreciate your consideration of this important issue. For the sake of the animals, and the safety of your constituents, I sincerely hope that you will choose to ban animal acts in entertainment in ( insert name of your community).
Please let me know what you plan to do about this important issue.
Sincerely yours,
(Your name, address and phone #)
The D.A.I.S.Y? Foundation wants everyone to be aware that tomorrow, March 1, at 9 am Derrick Collin Anderson will be in Calgary Provincial Court. He has been charged with beating a Pomeranian puppy to death and will be sentenced tomorrow.
Once again the D.A.I.S.Y? Foundation wants to thank you, the media, for making the public aware and for your continued support in our mission to change the laws to impose stricter penalties on those who choose to commit crimes of cruelty on animals.
On December 13, little Charlie went missing from his home. His family searched frantically for him.
On January 10, we received this email: “I regret to inform you that Charlie was found by CP Rail just a mere block from where he went missing…he passed yesterday…it is unclear how exactly. Some say the train but he was in immaculate condition, and his hair was white and no matts. Just like we last saw him, and he was being fed as he has not lost any weight.”
Charlie was just six months old when he disappeared.
The following letter appeared on The Taber Times today. It’s a letter from Charlie’s “mom” where she is talking to the person believed to have had Charlie for the more than three weeks he was missing from his home. I cannot say how this story breaks my heart. We all expected such a different ending. Everyone with DAISY Foundation extends heartfelt hugs to Charlie’s family.
EDITOR;
This is for Charlie, our sweet, loving and innocent puppy taken from us so senselessly. He never got to experience his full puppyhood with his family because of human greed and insensitivity.
You kept him for over three weeks, you kept him clean, you fed him well and were able to see him grow. Then what happened?
Did you feel the heat from all the flyers mailed out and then the Taber newspaper report?
Were your dreams dashed because this little puppy had posters up from British Columbia through Manitoba, so no one would buy him from you?
Or, were you planning on keeping him, but because he was so well known you panicked and did the unthinkable?
If you had used the brains you were born with and simply given him a mud bath or made him really dirty, given his family a call to say you had found him, everyone would have been happy — you, with your large reward and this family for the return of this very precious puppy with no questions asked.
You saw this family and the community out there every day for over three weeks scouring the village for Charlie. You must have been blind and so cold hearted not to have seen the love and devotion they had for him. To keep him from his family was the ultimate in inhumanity.
Your kind of people are a menace to any community, because who else’s pet will be taken next and then discarded so lightly when things don’t go your way? In our hearts, we know your justice will come sooner or later for your cowardly deed.
May Charlie’s memory live with everyone who knew him or of him, and his family, and know we are ever so grateful to all the people who gave of their time, energy and support in search to bring him home.
LYNDA MURRAY
Lethbridge
reprinted from The Taber Times
It’s not going to be a happy New Year for one family unless Jersey returns home. Jersey and her two canine companions woke Colleen up at 2 a.m. on December 28th. She let the three dogs out. In a couple of minutes, she whistled for Oscar, Diva and Jersey. Colleen heard a whistle immediately following her whistle. Colleen whistled again… and once again a whistle followed. She ran back into the house and locked the door. Colleen was afraid to be out there alone at 2 a.m., so she promptly awoke her daughter. When they got to the door, they hollered for the three dogs. Oscar and Diva came back. Jersey did not. She woke her son and the three of them searched the entire area including Airdrie for hours and now days.
There was no evidence of an animal attack…she just disappeared. The whistle is suspicious.
Jersey is in urgent need of her medication. She recently had surgery for an aggressive infection. There were complications with the surgery and Jersey had to have the surgery repeated. If she doesn’t get her medication, Jersey’s life is at risk.
Jersey is a member of a family. She is a 7-month-old brown brindle pit bull. She has more light hairs on her belly. She has stunning coppery brown eyes. She is a slender 18” tall lightweight. She has a slight lumpy mark on the left side of her neck from the surgery. She’s active and loves her family, is timid with strangers but not vicious.
Colleen has a very special eight year old son named Ben. He suffers from 3 major diseases; last of which was a liver transplant. He has recently been treated for a major rejection. When Ben cries, Jersey is there. He doesn’t have many friends because he is “different.” Jersey builds Ben’s confidence and is his best friend and constant companion. Jersey looks out for Ben.
Ben believes Jersey is coming home. He needs his best friend back. Please, if you have seen Jersey or know of her whereabouts, call the D.A.I.S.Y.? Foundation at 403-475-1020. Someone knows where Jersey is.
If you have Jersey’s and want to stay anonymous, you can drop her off at any vet in Airdrie, Crossfield, Carstairs or Calgary North Vet.
Colleen’s children have emptied their piggy banks and pooled their resources. These kids have come up with a $295.00 reward.
If you would like to make a donation to Jersey’s Reward Fund*, please click here and note that you donation is for Jersey’s Reward Fund.
The family is not whole without Jersey.
*Any extra monies received will go to the DAISY Foundation Veterinary Assistance Fund.
Remember Duke, the little Chihuahua who was abducted by a coyote, but managed to drag himself back home despite his injuries? Who was later abducted by a hawk, but again survived?
Yes, THAT Duke.
He has a new home!
When Gail Gallant first told his story and said that he was looking for a new home, I immediately had the feeling that DAISY Foundation founder, Heather Anderson, would be the perfect match for him. I felt it in my gut and in my heart. But knowing that Heather already has a menagerie of dogs, cats, birds and reptiles, I decided it would be best to see if they would find each other.
So we created a blog post and spread the word about Duke. We received offers from far and near, but for one reason or another, they did not work out.
About a month later, we were working on our plans for the 4th Annual DAISY Foundation Fundraiser. Because it was being held at the community center, we thought we would invite Duke. Perhaps if people could see him in person, they might be interested in him or know someone who was. And that’s exactly what happened when Heather and Duke met — Heather with her cane and Duke with his cart. A match made in heaven!
A reporter recently interviewed the two of them at Heather’s house and filed this article. He also shot a video so everyone can meet Duke, aka Mr. Hot Wheels! As you can see in the video, not much slows this boy down!
Congratulations to Heather and Duke. I KNEW you would find each other!
And a special thanks to Gail for stepping up for this little man!
JEREMY NOLAIS | METRO CALGARY
Previously down on his luck, a resilient pup has rolled his way into a new Calgary home … and the heart of his new owner.
Known as Duke, the two-year-old Chihuahua has endured attacks by both a coyote and hawk, suffering extensive injuries that left his back two legs unusable.
Unable to afford pricey vet bills, his owners in Lacombe outfitted Duke with a set of wheels to replace his back two legs, but quickly realized they would no longer be able to give him enough care and attention.
Luckily, Calgary’s Heather Anderson, founder of animal rights advocacy group The Daisy Foundation, has come to the rescue.
Duke moved into Anderson’s humble abode earlier this month and has quickly made friends with a canine named Colt, who lost a leg as result of a gunshot wound.
“He’s got this spirit you wouldn’t believe,” Anderson said. “He’s incredible. I truly believe he has come into my life for a reason.”
Duke’s previous owner, Valerie Parish, spent months searching for a new home for him with the help of a complete stranger and Good Samaritan, Edmonton’s Carol Gallant.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Parish said of Duke’s new abode. “It was a long road but knowing where he went has made it all worthwhile.”
reprinted from MetroNews Calgary
