[novarobin]

ST. JEROME, Quebec, May 7 (UPI) -- A Quebec man convicted of running a fox terrier breeding mill has been given a near precedent-setting sentence but animal rights activists say it is too soft.

Marc-Andre Laporte was sentenced Tuesday to three years' probation, a $2,000 fine and 200 hours of community service. He was also barred from owning a dog for two years and from breeding for three years, the Gazette newspaper reported Wednesday.

A kennel Laporte operated north of Montreal was raided in 2005, and 97 dogs were found crammed into the facility. About 40 of the animals were in such bad condition, they were euthanized and the rest were adopted out and his property was condemned and torn down.

The sentence is considered harsh under Canadian animal abuse prosecutions, but several rights groups called it too lenient. Nicole Joncas, who operates an animal refuge in Eastern Ontario, called for jail time.

"Will this sentence give him a conscience? I don't think so," Joncas told the newspaper. "He should do jail time and he should never be allowed to own an animal again."

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/05/07/sentence_of_puppy_mill_breeder_decried/9822/

I read in our local paper that he was petitioning the court to get back his "highest producing dog" which is why they imposed the 2 year ban from owning a dog.

Amazing. In three years he can go back to breeding. And from what I understand, this is the maximum sentence.

 

[novarobin]

MONTREAL — The Quebec government should crack down on puppy-mill owners in the wake of a stiff sentence given to a man who operated what was described as the “kennel from ****,” say animal-rights activists.

Judge Jean Sirois rendered one of the stiffest sentences possible under current laws Tuesday to Marc-Andre Lapointe who owned a puppy mill in St-Jerome, north of Montreal.

The judge said the attitude of the kennel owner, who wanted the return of his best-producing dogs, played a part in the harsh sentence.

Sirois says Lapointe showed no remorse about his mistreatment of the 97 filthy dogs, mostly fox terriers, that were seized from his bungalow in 2005. Twenty dogs were immediately euthanized. Laporte, who was charged with two counts of animal cruelty after police raided his puppy mill, was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and do 200 hours of community service, just short of the maximum of 240 hours set out in the law.

He was also put on probation for three years and banned from having a pet dog for two years. Laporte also cannot communicate with foster families who have taken charge of his dogs.



Laporte’s lawyer, Claude F. Archambault, said his client isn’t happy about the sentence. “He’s disappointed he can’t own dogs and he’s disappointed the judge thinks if he has dogs, he will necessarily repeat the offence,” he said after the sentencing.

Laporte has 30 days to appeal.



She said she was “devastated” when she heard about the puppy mill. The dogs were crated two and three to a cage in some cases and had fought among themselves. Some had lost ears and parts of their jaws. Inbreeding was rampant and the animals lived in layers of their own waste.

Laporte had been breeding the dogs for sale.

Joncas, who is suing the Quebec government over lax animal-cruelty laws, said Quebec is considered “the puppy mill capital of Canada.” She estimated there are about 2,000 such mills.