Attack on dog earns jail time

This article in the Chronical Journal makes me see RED! This sentence is way too slack for the crime committed and that's one of the laws we are hoping to have changed.

Sixty days behind bars along with another 60 day, plus 14 for additional crimes committed and not allowed to own an animal for two years is nothing but a slap on the wrist. Will they jail him again in another 2 years when he kills a puppy and give him another 60 days and chance to harm again 2 years after that?

Sure he'll be on probation, but is that because of the crime he committed to the dog by slashing it's neck? I doubt that very much.

Ontario has the most lacks animal protection laws of all of Canada and this article goes to show you just how unbelievably bad it is here.

Now with the Liberal Party in power in Ontario, our hopes of getting strict with animal abusers has most likely gone back in the trash cans where all the good Bills and Private Members Bills go.

Attack on dog earns jail time
By THE CHRONICLE-JOURNAL
Friday, October 26, 2007

A north-side Thunder Bay man will spend a few more months behind bars for a series of offences, including a horrific attack on his dog.

At an Ontario Court hearing earlier this week, Meliton Papa Lacuesta pleaded guilty to various charges. The most serious related to a May 4 incident in which a young German shepherd-cross dog had its throat slashed.

The dog suffered five puncture wounds, some of them deep and near the jugular vein, necessitating surgery.

Lacuesta, who turns 29 today, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty. He was sentenced to a 60-day jail term. Justice Dino Di Giuseppe also barred him from having any animals for two years.

The dog was treated at Northwestern Veterinary Hospital. Staff there named him Rudy. After spending six days recovering from his wounds, the dog was put in the care of the Humane Society.

“He recovered 100 per cent and he was adopted” about a month later, Humane Society inspector Dagmara Cieslik said Friday.

The Humane Society spent about $2,400 caring for Rudy.

Lacuesta has been ordered to reimburse the organization that amount.

He also resolved charges from Oct 13. These related to an incident with his neighbour, who initially heard the dog‘s anguished barking on May 4 and called police.

Court was told Lacuesta threatened his neighbour, threw bricks through the window of his house, kicked a door and damaged his car.

He received another 60-day sentence on charges of uttering threats and mischief. Along with a five-year weapons ban, Di Giuseppe also ordered restitution in the amount of $12,500.

He also ordered Lacuesta to remain at least 100 metres from his neighbour, effectively meaning he has to find new accommodations.

Lacuesta also received a 14-day jail sentence for an unrelated charge of driving with a blood alcohol content over 80 milligrams.

At about 2:30 a.m. on April 29, a patrolling Thunder Bay Police officer spotted a man slouched in the driver‘s seat of a Chevy pickup truck stopped at Miles and May Streets. The driver then proceeded through a red light. He was stopped a short distance later.

A breathalyzer test at the police station returned two readings of 180 mg per 100 ml of blood.

Lacuesta was banned from driving for two years. Once the jail sentences are served, Lacuesta will be on probation for two years.