The accused was charged with animal cruelty under the Criminal Code for killing his neighbour’s husky Mikayla who had trespassed onto his property to investigate a raccoon in a humane trap. Stating that he was in fear for his safety from the dog and claiming a mentally fragile state due to receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis earlier that same day, he killed Mikayla with three blows of an axe.
The defence submitted a pre-sentencing report to highlight his cancer diagnosis, detailing his difficulty in coming to terms with it. Counsel also stressed that the accused was an animal lover and was known to the local humane society to trap feral cats that he brought to their facility. They acknowledged that due to the nature of the offence, incarceration was warranted, but requested a sentence that could be served in the community on weekends in the 90-day range.
The Crown requested a 12-month custodial sentence, in line with the indictable charge, to emphasize denunciation and deterrence and promote a ‘sense of responsibility’ (para. 47) in the accused whose response to an animal known to him trespassing onto his property was excessively violent. Victim impact statements were submitted by Mikayla’s family. Crown noted as aggravating the accused’s criminal history, which included at least four convictions for assault and two weapon offences, and that he was under an interim release order that prohibited him from possessing any weapon at the time of the incident.
Crown also disputed defence counsel’s claim that the accused had remorse, as she could not find any evidence of that in the pre-sentence report, only that he had mentioned that the “neighbour should’ve kept his dog in the backyard” (para. 50) and otherwise minimized the responsibility for his actions. In addition to the 12 months sentence, Crown also requested two years’ of probation with conditions that included counseling for anger, mental health issues and drugs, no contact or attendance with Mikayla’s family, as well as a restitution order pursuant to 447.1 in the amount of $300 to cover Mikayla’s cremation, and a lifetime animal prohibition order on the care and ownership of any dogs.
While the Court acknowledged the accused’s challenging situation with his cancer diagnosis, they found no medical evidence to support the accused’s claim of being of unsound mind. The Court also highlighted that the accused had other options, such as contacting the Humane Society, rather than resorting to violence. Ultimately, the Court determined that a sentence of 10-months’ imprisonment along with two years of probation with the recommended conditions, as well as DNA order and weapons prohibition, was appropriate in this case.