[LINK] "Toronto Humane Society officials arrested, charged with cruelty to animals"

[rfmcdonald]

This afternoon, the Globe and Mail investigation that I'd blogged about this past June (1, 2) into allegations of cruelty to animals at the Toronto Humane Society resulted in arrests. Early suggestions are that the administration didn't want to administer euthanasia to animals in need, among other things.

Humane Society president Tim Trow is facing Criminal Code charges of animal cruelty, conspiracy to commit cruelty to animals and obstruction of a peace officer. If convicted, Mr. Trow faces a maximum penalty of $2,000 and six months in jail for the animal cruelty charges, and two years in jail for the obstruction charges.

Head veterinarian Steve Sheridan, shelter manager Gary McCracken, manager Romeo Bernadino and shelter supervisor Andy Bechtel have also been arrested and face animal cruelty charges under the criminal code.

All of the above, as well as the Society's board of directors, are also being charged with five counts of animal cruelty, a provincial offence under the Ontario SPCA Act (as opposed to criminal charges).

[. . .]

Christopher Avery, a Bay Street criminal lawyer representing the OSPCA, said Mr. Trow's own dog, Bandit, attacked a police officer during the arrest on Thursday. It was pepper sprayed.

He also outlined the poor conditions of a number of animals.

"[OSPCA] officer [Kevin] Strooband recalled one animal in particular. He came in and lifted a cat and its skin came off in his hands," Mr. Avery told reporters outside the THS building.

"We are in the process of going cage by cage, animal by animal throughout the facility and comparing those with veterinary records, and we're doing our utmost to determine whether or not further charges should be laid by the end of the weekend."

Asked about the charges of obstructing a peace officer, Mr. Avery alleged that the THS sought to interfere with an inspection earlier this year.

"We received information that approximately two dozen animals were moved around the shelter and kept out of the eyesight of the SPCA because of the condition they were in. There's also a number of animals euthanized. In other words, the shelter management took active steps to ensure that Officer Strooband was not able to properly conduct his inspection," Mr. Avery said.

(UPDATE (10:11 PM): See this posting in the toronto community for more.