Couple fined $700 after exotic animals seized from B.C. farm

A B.C. couple has been fined $700 and put on two years' probation after SPCA officers seized 87 animals from their farm, including a lynx, three parrots, 10 turtles, an alpaca and an assortment of 70 rabbits, hedgehogs, chinchillas, gerbils and mice.

Michelle Kuberski and Kenneth Bunker pleaded guilty to charges of animal cruelty and were sentenced last week in a Dawson Creek court, according to a statement released Monday morning by the B.C. SPCA.

The court instructed the couple to provide the SPCA with a list of all the remaining animals on their property and to grant the organization access to inspect the animals with only 24 hours' notice.

The SPCA was first called to the property in northeastern B.C. after receiving a complaint of animal neglect and hoarding..." More

B.C. woman charged after 73 ‘distressed’ animals seized by SPCA

Suzanne Fournier

Twenty-eight horses, 39 dogs, four cats, a pig and a llama are in the protective custody of the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals after their owner was charged with animal cruelty.

Carla Christman, from the B.C. Interior city of Vernon, was charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty after animal welfare officials seized the "thin and emaciated" injured horses, the terrier-mix dogs and "distressed" cats, as well as a "thin, sunburned" pig and an abused llama.

The small animals were crowded into an unventilated area "so thick with the stench of ammonia and feces that officers gagged upon entry," an official said.

The dogs were being allowed to breed, as were horses, which were on the brink of starvation.

"These animals were clearly in severe distress. We tried over several months to get the owner to improve their care and relieve their suffering, yet the animals continued to decline while she tried to breed some and keep selling them," said Marcie Moriarty, general manager of cruelty investigations for the B.C. SPCA..." More

Sept 12, 2009: Horses, dogs, cats, pig, llama seized from Vernon ranch

The SPCA has seized 73 animals from a Vernon-area property.

Special constables removed the animals Monday after their owner failed to comply with orders to improve conditions for the animals, according to an SPCA news release. Officers have made more than 20 follow-up visits during the past year.

“This was a case where the owner had been given every opportunity to provide proper care for her animals,” said Kathy Woodward, senior animal protection officer for the B.C. SPCA. “There were ongoing welfare issues that were not being addressed and it was clear that the owner would not, or could not, provide the changes needed for the animals’ well-being.”

The news release did not provide an address for the property, but Castanet reported that it is Scenic Valley Ranch on Irish Creek Road. Scenic Valley Ranch has been operating since 1973 as a beef cattle ranch and is owned by Charles Christman and his daughter Carla Christman. Its website has been suspended.

SPCA officers removed 39 small terrier-mix dogs (including 16 puppies), 28 horses, four cats, a pig and a llama from the property. Three more puppies were born in SPCA custody Monday night. None of the animals are available for adoption.

“Many of the horses were thin, injured, had long hooves and were being housed in an unsuitable and unsafe environment,” said Woodward...." More

Owner wants cats returned

By Jenn Marshall

Nearly 100 cats seized in Cedar last week likely won’t be returned to the owner.

The animals were taken Aug. 10 after a bailiff hired by the property owner to evict the tenant called the SPCA. The cats were living in poor conditions and some needed medical attention.

Leon Davis, manager of the Nanaimo and District SPCA, said the animals were seized legally because SPCA officials were invited in by the homeowner and the cats were considered abandoned because the tenant had nowhere to take them.

But the shelter must follow strict legal guidelines before allowing the cats to be adopted.

Owners have four days after seizure to ask that their animals be returned to them and then two weeks to submit reasons why the animals should be returned and what provisions will be made for them.

“She has stated that she would like to have them back and so we will wait and see what she comes up [by Aug. 24],” said Davis. “There’s no evidence this owner has anywhere she can take the cats. It’s just not going to happen, in my opinion.”..." More

August 15, 2009: Landlord of cat infested home stuck with $50,000 bill

BY WALTER CORDERY

NANAIMO, B.C. — A cat-hoarding tenant left her Vancouver Island landlord with a $50,000 mess.

Nanaimo businesswoman Irene Wenngatz owns the home where SPCA officials rescued 94 cats and kittens from deplorable conditions on Monday. The SPCA was contacted by bailiffs who were in the process of evicting Wenngatz's tenant.

SPCA investigators said the home in Cedar, which is a Nanaimo suburb, was overrun with cats, the floors were thick with animal waste and dead cats and kittens were being kept in a freezer. Although 94 cats were taken from the home, a number of animals were left behind.

Wenngatz had been trying for months to remove the tenant, who stopped paying her rent eight months ago, she said. The homeowner said she was caught up in a nightmarish delay with tenancy arbitrators that may have allowed her former tenant to acquire more cats.

Wenngatz purchased the property two years ago.

The former Alberta resident said she can't believe the bureaucratic haggling she had to endure with the arbitrators, especially since she said she was deceived by her former tenant from the beginning of their relationship.

"She told me she had no pets," Wenngatz said.

She later learned that her former tenant had given another area landlord the same grief.

A couple of months after renting the woman the home, the woman stopped paying her rent. Wenngatz estimates the tenant owes her about $18,000 in unpaid rent.

Once she started the arbitration process, Wenngatz went to the home and was shocked by what she saw.

"There were cats everywhere. She had tore out the carpets and kicked holes in the wall just for them," she said.

She took pictures so that she could show the arbitrator. Still, the process dragged on and on.

"This should have only taken a couple of weeks but eight months, that's ridiculous. There are times I can't believe how different things are here than they are in Alberta," said Wenngatz. "God only knows how much damage was done during the negotiations with the arbitrator and before he made his ruling and when I first started proceedings to get an order of possession. I couldn't stand being in there when I was taking the pictures. The place stank."

The arbitrator finally ruled in Wenngatz's favour in late June and her tenant was given two days to get out..." More

Cedar woman might get 94 cats back

Eccles said SPCA staff were in legal limbo on Monday because the bailiffs had already served an eviction notice to the woman, who is in her 60s, and were in the process of removing her from the home. "The bailiffs called us because they wanted the animals looked after."

Eccles said he talked to the woman yesterday and she indicated she wanted the cats back. "It may very well be that any evidence that we gathered at the house may not be admissible in court because we may not have had the legal jurisdiction to be there," he said. "In my opinion, we did the correct thing. We rescued those animals from horrendous living conditions..." More