The Nova Scotia SPCA says footage from a security camera showing a cowering dog being whipped with a leash was used to convict a Halifax man of animal cruelty.
Jo-Anne Landsburg, the SPCA’s chief provincial inspector, said the case is precedent-setting in the province because the video helped to get a conviction in a situation where there was no physical proof of injuries to the animal.
“Most times, it is people witnessing this (abuse) and they are often not willing to come forward or not willing to provide us with a statement with accurate details, so it’s difficult for us to prove sometimes, and this made it much easier,” Landsburg said in an interview Tuesday.
“It was important to us to prove the psychological effect that it would have on this dog during that moment and moving forward as well. It was a very important case for us.”
The SPCA received a complaint in October 2018 from someone who said they had a video showing a man abusing a dog at an apartment complex.
The dog was seized and Adam DeCoste was charged later that month with causing the dog to be in distress. The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to the charge last week and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and prohibited from owning animals for three years.
The apartment security video provided by the SPCA shows DeCoste violently pulling and dragging the female dog before whipping her several times with the leash handle.
The dog cowers and puts her tail between her legs before trying to get away from DeCoste.
Landsburg said the organization’s case was assisted in court through the expert testimony of Rebecca Ledger, a B.C.-based animal behaviour and animal welfare scientist, who was able to testify that the dog suffered fear, anxiety and physical discomfort.
“We’ve never had this type of a case,” Landsburg said, adding that she hopes it will be published in a law report so it can serve as case law. “There wasn’t a huge sentencing in this case, but I think the overall conviction was the bigger picture,” she said.
Landsburg said she would have liked to have seen a lifetime prohibition and a stiffer fine. She said cruelty fines in Nova Scotia can range as high as $75,000.
The dog, which was actually owned by DeCoste’s girlfriend, has since been adopted by new owners.
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