Deschamps killed a stray cat that was tampering with garbage on his property, shooting. The cat was being fed by a nearby family. Since the cat was not a domestic animal being kept for a lawful purpose, s. 401 couldn’t apply.
Charge is dismissed, since ‘kept for a lawful purpose’ as per s. 401 contemplates a keeper and a measure of control to be exercised by the keeper.
Examination of the word “kept” and held the cat was not a kept animal and accused was therefore acquitted.
NB: This case was incompetently prosecuted. The court acknowledged that a successful claim could have been made under s. 402 of the Criminal Code, but it wasn’t.