The accused caused injury to his dog Kato in May 2022 by grabbing Kato by the throat and slamming them against a nearby concrete barrier, punching them in the head, and kicking them, breaking one of their ribs. Prior to an assault in September 2022 where the accused had bit his domestic partner’s finger, he had entered into a peace bond with a former domestic partner in November 2021 due to his actions causing reasonable fear of injury in January of that year, which required the accused “keep the peace and be of good behaviour”.
The accused pleaded guilty to wilfully injuring a dog contrary to s. 445.1(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, as well as assault and disobeying a previous court order. The Crown submitted that the primary sentencing objectives for crimes of violence are deterrence and denunciation, particularly for violence against intimate partners and against animals, and that only a jail sentence could achieve those objectives.
Aggravating factors include committing an assault against the accused’s intimate partner and assaulting a dog that was his own pet. Mitigating factors include pleading guilty to these offences, displaying genuine remorse, as well as having no prior criminal record. However, the Court was not convinced that factors which led to the accused’s abuse of Kato have been addressed, and therefore was at reasonable risk of mistreating animals under his control.
The Court felt a 10-year animal prohibition order with counselling, rather than the lifetime order sought by the Crown, would allow appropriate time to pass for the offender to mature and learn to properly care for animals. The Court also conceded that a CSO may not be a proportionate sentence in all animal cruelty cases but was satisfied that a properly crafted CSO would be adequate in this case. In addition to the animal prohibition order, sentencing includes a six-month Conditional Sentence Order to be served in the community, followed by a 12-month probation period, along with combined fines of $1300. Should a default situation occur on payment, the offender would serve a consecutive term of imprisonment.
https://canlii.ca/t/k41fs