This was a sentencing hearing for numerous offences that the accused had committed, one of which an animal cruelty offence for beating a kitten to death and burning an older cat with a blow torch.
The court considered the accused’s background, which included a history of polysubstance use disorder, antisocial personality disorder and a traumatic brain injury. However, the court noted that this did not reduce moral culpability because the accused understood what he was doing. The court also noted that animals belong to a category of the vulnerable whom the criminal law must protect and care for.
The aggravating features were: the sadistic behaviour towards the cats; the severity of the injuries sustained by the surviving cat; the length of time it went on; the breach of the trust relationship that always exists when dealing with domesticated animals; lying about what happened afterwards to the Humane Society; two animals were involved; and the accused was on terms of release. The mitigating factors were: the accused pled guilty; he expressed remorse; his age (he was 23 at the time of sentencing); and the possibility of some trauma in his childhood. The accused’s brain injury was a somewhat mitigating factor.
The court decided that in addition to the 17 months spent in custody, the accused was sentenced to two-years of imprisonment (per cat, served concurrently) followed by two years of probation was appropriate. A lifetime prohibition on pet ownership was also ordered.