Press Release

March 2, 2009
Halifax, NS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPCA Cruelty Case Results in $5 Fine for Killing Cat

The Nova Scotia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty wishes to report a huge setback in their work to toughen penalties for those who choose to torture and kill animals.

After a resident of Hants County pleaded guilty in provincial court today to killing a stray cat by drowning, the crown prosecutor in the case asked the judge for a menial $5 fine for the perpetrator because, the prosecutor argued, "The SPCA will not touch them (stray cats)" and he blamed the charity for neglecting to take in the stray cat.

Nova Scotia SPCA Chair of Investigations, Sean Kelly, expressed his frustration, "The SPCA does not normally take in stray animals due to the limited resources of our branches and shelters; in addition, stray animals are first and foremost an animal control function, which is a municipal responsibility, and in Hants County, the municipality does not have a contract with the SPCA to take in stray animals on their behalf." Mr. Kelly said this is a common misconception but it is very frustrating to hear the courts blaming the SPCA for a municipal responsibility. "Animal control's mandate is stray animals; our mandate is the prevention of cruelty. What has happened here is yet another case of animal cruelty in Nova Scotia being treated with a slap on the wrist. It is so very frustrating for those of us working hard to live up to the public expectation of prosecuting cruel acts to animals only to have the courts work against us."

Mr. Kelly said the $5 fine is a slap in the face to the SPCA, which receives no public funding other than a $3,000 annual grant from the Department of Agriculture, and flies in the face of the Society's efforts to promote the humane treatment of all animals, stray and owned. "It costs us hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to carry out our mandate of prevention of cruelty and while we are providing an important public service that people have come to expect from us, we are doing it on fundraised dollars and donations. It's a huge responsibility to live up to without funding."

The Society is disappointed that a crown prosecutor would publicly blame the charity for a municipal responsibility. "What this case has done is it has made it okay to kill any stray animal by drowning it," said Mr. Kelly, "clearly there is a need here to educate our prosecutors on what our mandate is versus the mandate of the municipality, and to educate them on what responsibilities lie with the municipality's Animal Control division."

Despite their limited resources and mandated focus on the prevention and investigation of animal cruelty, SPCAs in Nova Scotia provide shelter and care to approximately 5,000 abandoned, unwanted, neglected and abused cats every year.

Media requests and interviews may be directed to media@spcans.ca or by calling 835-4798.