John McWilliams purposely and negligently set an illegal snare trap in a publicly accessible park that should not have been where it was. And by these actions, he killed Ben. Thirty feet from Lorna, Ben was strangled in such a way that he could not even cry out for help.
Calls started coming in to the Bashaw RCMP about poisoned dogs early Saturday morning. By that evening, there were 13 confirmed dog poisonings in Mirror, Alberta.
[image_lightbox url="http://daisyfoundation.ca/daisy/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/nixonDaughter.jpg" title="Jason Nixon with his daughter Chyanne, 4 outside of Calgary Courts Centre in Calgary, Alberta on April 27, 2011was exonerated after the crown with...
New evidence showed the mare never was shot, but likely died giving birth or in an accident, and was found dead on the side of the road — about 130 kilometres north of Calgary — by the three men: Jason Nixon, Gary Cape and Earl Anderson.
"Ben was only about 30 feet from me in the bush, and I never heard a thing. The conservation officer said [the snare] would have instantly closed off his breathing, so he never had the opportunity to call out.”
It was about noon by the time we got back to Canyon Creek, and I looked for Ben’s tracks to see which direction he had taken. It wasn’t far from where I last saw him that I found his lifeless body in the trees with a wire snare around his neck. I couldn’t get it off, so had to call Ed to help. Ed couldn’t get it off either, and ended up cutting the cable to get him free.`
A hundred animal rights supporters held a vigil for the 100 sled dogs that were killed in Whistler one year ago. Standing at Tompkin’s Place on 17 Avenue and 8 Street S.W. on Saturday night, they held signs and circulated petitions for tougher animal cruelty laws in Canada on the anniversary of a slaughter that garnered international attention.
One of three men accused of illegally shooting a feral horse near Sundre in 2009 said Monday he’s confident he will be exonerated. Provincial court Judge Cheryl Daniel agreed to adjourn the trial for the day after the three men’s lawyers and Crown prosecutor Gord Haight discussed new disclosure that was recently turned over from the RCMP.
British Columbia announced Tuesday that it is acting on all of the recommendations of its Sled Dog Task Force, including providing new funding for animal-cruelty investigations and introducing the toughest animal-protection laws anywhere in Canada. The province will change its Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, including increasing penalties to as much as $75,000 and as long as 24 months imprisonment for the most serious offences, in the wake of a mass slaughter of sled dogs near Whistler last April, Premier Christy Clark said.
A lot of the wild horse herds in Alberta started turning up shot, left to die brutal, agonizing deaths near the side of the highway, and a lot of Albertans were as outraged as they were heartbroken.
NO Cost Spay and Neuter Program is a free program offered by The City of Calgary Animal & Bylaw Services. You are eligible if on AISH, Income Support or household income is not greater than 85% of the Statistics Canada Low Income Cut-Offs (LICOS). Cat/kittens and dogs/puppies are eligible. No rabbits or ferrets at this time. For more info, go to www.calgary.ca/animalservices or call 311.
“An animal charity may only advocate policies and practices which benefit humans more than animals.” The courts, says CRA, have determined that “an activity or purpose is only charitable when it provides a benefit to humans. For some purposes and activities, including those relieving the suffering of animals, the courts have decided that the benefit is the promotion of the moral or ethical development of the community.”
The D.A.I.S.Y? Foundation wants the press to be aware that on Sunday, February 13th there will be a walk at Edworthy Park in Calgary at 2:00 pm in honor of the 100 sled dogs that were murdered.
Liberal MP and Public Safety Critic Mark Holland reached out to British Columbia Conservative MPs today, asking for their help to reform weak animal cruelty laws in light of news about a criminal investigation underway into the slaughter of one hundred dogs near Whistler, BC – a case that has shocked and outraged people across the country.
On November 29th, Ed and Lorna Thomas took their dog Ben for a walk near Elbow Falls. Ben went missing and the couple searched for hours, eventually admitting defeat. The next day, Lorna found him caught in hunters snare trap. He died as a result. A man has been charged with hunting wildlife during a closed season in relation to the event.
The area near Powderface Trail where a dog was killed by a snare Nov. 30 was closed to trapping at the time, Sustainable Resource Development officials said Monday.
For the past three years, Lorna and Ed Thomas have been walking in the woods near Elbow Falls with their Alaskan malamute Ben in tow. However, they’re trio is now one short after what was supposed to be a relaxing day spent in the country. “He was strangled in a steel cable and my husband couldn’t even cut it,” says Lorna.
he D.A.I.S.Y? Foundation would like help from the media in spreading the word that on Saturday, November 27th at 7:00 p.m. the 3rd annual Daisy Duke Memorial Benefit will be held at the Dover Community Centre, 3133 30 Av. S.E. in Calgary to honor the death of Daisy Duke who was killed in Didsbury in 2006 by his owner and partner in crime by beating, duck taping and dragging Daisy Duke behind their vehicle and leaving her to die on the side of the road. Another purpose of the benefit is to raise money for our rescue and spay/neuter programs.
Leaving her elderly cat’s broken leg untreated for months, until it became gangrenous and fell off, has landed a Calgary woman a $2,000 fine. And provincial court Judge Bruce Millar on Thursday also slapped Marlene Payne with a lifetime ban on owning pets, despite a Crown request for only a five-year prohibition.
A pet owner is going to jail for 30 days after flying into an uncontrollable rage when he returned home to find his seven-month-old German shepherd had damaged some furniture. “What started out as disciplining the dog turned into physical abuse,” Crown prosecutor Gord Haight told court Tuesday after Thomas James Norman, 23, pleaded guilty to causing pain and suffering to the dog, Aurora.
Delivering a deadly kick to a young cat earned a Calgary man,Darren Ronald Lesy, a fine of $1,800 [plus $270 for the victim fine surcharge], community service and a two-year ban on owning animals. But in a joint submission, Darren Ronald Lesy was given an exception to see the golden retriever, named Harley, allowed to live with him and his wife although the dog’s care and control will be the responsibility of his spouse.
Dog owners can’t put personal expenses ahead of their pets, an animal rights group spokeswoman said Wednesday after a Calgary man was fined for neglecting his canine. Heather Anderson of the DAISY Foundation said those who can’t afford pets should turn them over to the Humane Society instead of letting them suffer. Anderson’s comment came moments after provincial court Judge Allan Fradsham fined Eddie Kwok Yee Chan $1,000 for allowing his dog to suffer.
Bashing his dog in the head with a flashlight, which led to the animal losing an eye, has landed a Calgary man nine months of house arrest. Provincial court Judge Bruce Fraser on Tuesday said Donald James Ainsworth poses no danger to the public, so a conditional sentence was warranted. Fraser said barring Ainsworth from being around pets for five years would alleviate any concern he poses a risk.
Anger over his cat’s inability to control its bowels led a Calgary man to fatally kick the feline, a court heard Monday. Crown prosecutor Richelle Freiheit said Darren Ronald Lesy kicked his and his girlfriend’s pet, Sage, two, after bathing the animal the morning of Aug. 27, 2007, and discovering fecal matter on her.
A 21-year-old city man will not have a criminal record for beating a four-month-old husky puppy to death with a piece of wood, if he successfully completes a year of probation.
Provincial court Judge Terry Semenuk, in imposing the conditional discharge on Jacob Michael Rabeau on Friday, said although hitting the dog was unnecessary, “the offence was impulsive.”
Charges have been laid against a woman six months after a Doberman puppy was found critically injured and abandoned in a blood-covered kennel outside a vet hospital. The woman faces one Criminal Code charge of abandonment or wilful neglect of an animal in distress. She has also been charged under the Animal Protection Act of Alberta with causing or permitting an animal in her care to be in distress, Calgary Humane Society officials said Tuesday.
Beating his wife, trying to strangle her dog with a noose and then spitting in a cop’s face has landed a Calgary man a seven-month jail term. But animal rights activists are applauding a secondary part of Bradley Kim Bergman’s punishment — a 10-year order that he have no pets. Provincial court Judge Sean Dunnigan agreed with Crown prosecutor Gord Haight that Bergman’s conduct warranted at least a seven-month jail term.
Blinding his pet dog by whacking it with a flashlight should land a Calgary man up to five months in jail, a prosecutor said Wednesday. But the lawyer for Donald James Ainsworth said her client should be spared any jail, or at worst given a term which can be served on weekends. Defence counsel Andrea Serink said other animal abuse cases, even those involving deaths, have resulted in punishments less than the three- to five-month term the Crown wants for her client.
Next time Calgary puppy killer Jacob Rabeau will take the bite and spare the dog, his lawyer said Thursday. Defence counsel Willie de Wit said Rabeau overreacted when he clubbed to death a Husky pup that was barking at him, but has learned his lesson.
Gary Cope, 35 has been added to the list of those charged with the shooting of a pregnant mare West of Sundre. Earl Anderson, Jason Nixon and a 13 year old boy, who cannot be named under the Young Offenders Act, were charged earlier this year. Jason Nixon has also been charged with uttering threats to a Fish and Wild Life Officer, interfering in an investigation and assaulting a witness. None of the accused showed up today, instead they reserved their plea until March 29th. The boy will be tried separately in a youth court.
Animals rights activists showed up Tuesday at the Calgary Courts Centre as judges dealt with three cases of dog abuse in which animals were hanged, beaten to death and had eyes gouged.
“It’s really bad when in one day there are three cases on the court dockets in one city,” Heather Anderson, founder of DAISY (Delegates Against Inhuman Suffering Y?), said outside court.
Three separate cases involving animal cruelty were before the courts in Calgary on Tuesday.
While the cases were going on inside, The Daisy Foundation held a demonstration outside. “As far as the law goes, because this was his property, he’s probably going to get away with it, because of the property law in Canada – that animals are considered property – which is ridiculous,” says Heather Anderson, a member of the animal rights group.
The search for the person who savagely beat a three-month-old puppy was thrown a $9,400 treat by a donor furious over the assault.
The donation to the animal advocate Daisy Foundation brings the total bounty for information leading to the conviction of the animal abuser to at least $10,500, said the group’s founder, Heather Anderson.
CALGARY HERALD – NOVEMBER 14, 2009
A local foundation is offering a $10,500 reward for information that identifies the person who injured a three-month-old Doberman puppy that was abandoned at the Calgary North Vet Clinic.
The pup was discover…
The Calgary Humane Society suspects animal abuse after an injured pup was left outside a veterinary hospital in a kennel that was covered in blood. The young Doberman was abandoned late Tuesday in the parking lot at the Calgary North Veterinary Hospital. Humane Society spokeswoman Lindsay Jones said the dog’s injuries may be life-threatening.
I don’t cry easily, but this kind of cruelty toward animals brings tears to my eyes. Fifty months of community service (likely only a few hours a year) and a fine of $607 payable to the owner is laughable. Why is the brutal beating of an animal treated so lightly?
A sentence of probation and community service for a Strathmore teen who attacked a sheep– injuring it to the point it had to be put down–doesn’t fit the crime, says the animal’s owner. The youth, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was ordered to perform 50 months of community service and pay restitution of $607 to owner Mel Smart.
