Shelter neglect - over 100 cats seized
Port Hastings, NS (CA)Incident Date: Saturday, Feb 2, 2008
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Zonda MacIsaac
» Alice MacIsaac
Case Updates: 4 update(s) available
Celtic Pets Rescue is facing multiple charges involving criminal neglect and animal cruelty after more than 100 sick or dead animals were seized Saturday and Monday under two court-issued warrants.
Three of 78 cats found alive tested positive Tuesday for a life-threatening contagious feline leukemia and had to be euthanized, while other cats and dogs remain ill with a variety of respiratory ailments. Veterinarians expect some to die, according to the provincial SPCA.
It's not known at this time if other cats were infected while sharing close quarters in a feces-filled basement in one of two buildings Celtic Pets Rescue used at a remote site about 20 kilometres from Port Hastings.
"It will take some time to finish our reports for the Crown's office . . . but I can tell you we won't be waiting six months to lay a charge, that's for sure," SPCA president Pamela Keddy said Tuesday.
The SPCA, with help from the RCMP, raided the shelter on Cenotaph Road in West Bay Road after a five-month investigation.
The raid began Saturday but the time-limited warrant expired before all the animals could be rescued because the SPCA was unprepared for the massive number of animals it encountered at what was licensed to be a 12-cage dog shelter.
A further 16 cats, encrusted with feces, were rescued Monday after the court issued a second warrant.
Two animals found dead were left at the shelter, which remained closed Tuesday. Most of the others are recovering at a Cole Harbour emergency shelter the SPCA rented to handle the number of animals.
Celtic Pets Rescue owner Zonda MacIsaac was not answering her phone Tuesday but her mother, Alice MacIsaac, who up until mid-December was in charge of all SPCA investigations in the area, did answer the shelter's rescue line. She refused to answer any questions, abruptly hanging up twice.
Alice MacIsaac's licence as an SPCA special constable was revoked in mid-December after she allegedly interfered in the investigation of Celtic Pets Rescue and prevented a fellow officer from inspecting the shelter. Alice MacIsaac is also a director of Celtic Pets Rescue.
The probe began in October after The Chronicle Herald alerted the SPCA to evidence of possible neglect.
Surveillance camera footage the SPCA recorded over eight days in January seemed to show that no people were at the shelter for days at a time.
Both Alice and Zonda MacIsaac are well-known animal rescuers who were paid thousands of dollars over the years through contracts and public and private donations. Some of Celtic Pets Rescue's animals came from SPCAs in this province and Newfoundland.
It took the SPCA several tries to gain entry to the larger structure on the shelter site because the rules governing warrants don't allow for kennel inspections anymore, only seizures. And seizures can't take place until enough evidence of suspected abuse is collected.
Those laws must be changed, said Premier Rodney MacDonald, who represents Inverness County, where Celtic Pets Rescue has operated for years.
"This is a situation which is unacceptable because animals need to be protected," the premier said Tuesday. "I felt disappointed because the animals we have on farms or in shelters or in our households deserve to be protected."
Celtic Pets Rescue has also held the animal control contract with the town of Port Hawkesbury for some time, earning $500 a month and $20 per call. An emergency council meeting to discuss the contract was held Tuesday night. The contract has been suspended until the SPCA investigation is over.
Mayor Billy Joe MacLean said Tuesday that a call for proposals to hire another firm for animal control would likely be approved.
"We're very embarrassed by it all," the mayor said.
Pets retrieved from Port Hawkesbury streets were not housed at Celtic Pets Rescue, about 30 kilometres away, but at a small pound inside the town's transportation depot, Mr. MacLean said.
"We have our own kennels we maintain ourselves and we never impounded to Celtic Pets," he said.
Mr. MacLean also wants to see changes to the law so that animals are better protected.
"We have a responsibility to work with other municipal units to ensure the protection and safety measures, how do we get proper inspections weekly or monthly," he said.
Case UpdatesThe former operator of a Cape Breton-based animal rescue shelter who is facing animal cruelty charges is to undergo a psychiatric assessment.
Thirty-three-year-old Zonda Lee Marie MacIsaac, of Port Hastings, is to be assessed at the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth.
Her lawyer Elizabeth Cusack made the application for the assessment Monday during a provincial court appearance in Port Hawkesbury.
MacIsaac, former operator of Celtic Pets Rescue, is charged with wilfully causing unnecessary pain to animals and wilfully failing to provide adequate food, water, shelter and care.
Both charges were filed under the Criminal Code.
The charges against MacIsaac relate to 27 dogs and puppies and 78 cats.
The psychiatric assessment will help determine whether MacIsaac was criminally responsible at the time of the alleged offences and whether she is mentally fit to stand trial.
She is now expected back in court Sept. 23.
The charges come after a lengthy investigation following the seizure last February of dozens of cats and dogs who were found soaked in urine and covered in their own feces.
Just over 100 cats and dogs were removed from the shelter last Feb. 2.
Many of the animals were euthanized due to sickness. | Source: Chronicle Herald - July 29, 2008
Update posted on Jul 29, 2008 - 11:53PM |
A mother and daughter in Cape Breton involved in an animal-welfare case that made headlines in February were charged Friday with Criminal Code and animal-cruelty violations, a gov�ernment source said.
Charged after an investigation into Celtic Pets Rescue are Zonda MacIsaac and her mother, Alice.
They're each facing two criminal charges and two animal-cruelty charg�es. Offences allegedly committed by Zonda MacIsaac relate to the treatment of 27 dogs and 78 cats, the source said. The allegations linked to her mother involve 24 dogs and one cat.
Both women are to appear in court in Port Hawkesbury on May 21.
The MacIsaacs were charged after a probe of Celtic Pets, focused on crimi�nal neglect and animal cruelty. More than 100 sick or dead animals were seized during two days in February un�der court-issued warrants.
Three of 78 cats found alive tested positive for life-threatening feline leu�kemia and had to be euthanized, while other cats and dogs were sick with a va�riety of respiratory ailments.
Celtic Pets, on West Bay Road, about 30 kilometres from Port Hawkesbury, is owned by Zonda MacIsaac.
Alice MacIsaac was until November in charge of SPCA investigations in the area.
Her licence as an SPCA special con�stable, a volunteer position, was re�voked after she allegedly interfered in the society's investigation of Celtic Pets and allegedly prevented a fellow officer from inspecting the shelter.
The MacIsaacs are facing the same charges, said the source. The alleged offences include causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal and al�lowing an animal to be in distress.
In a release several weeks ago, the Nova Scotia SPCA said the conditions for dogs and cats at Celtic Pets were de�plorable.
"They were housed in two buildings: one an unfinished kennel building and the other an unlived-in house that was used solely for animal habitation," it said.
"One of the buildings hadn't been at�tended to in over 65 hours. The house had cats running free in a basement that had a sewage backup so the cats were literally in a cesspool."
The SPCA was criticized by Antigon�ish- area members for its handling of the Celtic Pets situation, but society of�ficials have said they responded to a crisis as best they could under the cir�cumstances.
RCMP visit the home of Alice MacIsaac last month. On Friday, Ms. MacIsaac and her daughter Zonda were charged with animal cruelty. (TERA CAMUS / Cape Breton Bureau) Powered by TECNAVIA Copyright (c)2008 The Halifax Herald Limited 03/29/2008 | Source: The Chronicle Herald - March 29, 2008
Update posted on Mar 29, 2008 - 9:47PM |
A U-Haul truck carrying 10 dogs arrived at the P.E.I. Humane Society last Friday hours after a neighbour noticed a similar-looking vehicle at the home of a former SPCA special constable.
The president of the Nova Scotia SPCA suspects the 10 animals may have been in the care of Alice MacIsaac, who, along with daughter Zonda, is the subject of an ongoing animal cruelty investigation.
The SPCA seized 25 animals from Alice's home Friday afternoon, days after just over 100 feces-encrusted animals, most of them cats, were seized from Zonda's Celtic Pets Rescue in West Bay Road in two separate raids.
Attempts to reach Alice and Zonda MacIsaac on Monday were unsuccessful.
"It would stand to reason that the U-Haul showing up the night after (a Chronicle Herald) reporter was on site does makes it sound like (Alice) was trying to lessen the number of animals in the household," Pamela Keddy said. "The (humane society) is going to be providing us with some evidence so that we can see if it links up. There is the assumption that (Alice's) is where they came from, but we can't definitively say."
Ms. Keddy is waiting for evidence from the P.E.I. Humane Society about the delivery of the dogs. She could not say when she expects it to arrive.
One of Alice's neighbours told The Chronicle Herald on Sunday that she saw a U-Haul truck outside the woman's home Thursday night. It was gone Friday and returned in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
A veterinarian at the P.E.I. Humane Society told Betty O'Neill that the man who dropped off the dogs said they came from the Antigonish area.
Ms. O'Neill is the president of the SPCA's Antigonish branch and said she did not believe that the dogs came from her area.
"We had no knowledge of (this) until the humane society called," she said, adding that the humane society manager traced the licence plate of the truck to the Port Hawkesbury area.
Dr. Els Cawthorn, the manager of the P.E.I. Humane Society shelter, could not be reached Monday.
If the dogs are connected to the MacIsaacs, it could mean they are tied to a larger operation, Ms. Keddy said. The identity of the person driving the rental vehicle is unknown to the SPCA.
"That's a concern, too, (whether) this is potentially a bigger network," Ms. Keddy said. "We're hoping not since what we've seen so far is dramatic enough as it is."
The 10 dogs in Charlottetown appear to be in fairly good condition, but there are some small signs of neglect, Ms. Keddy said.
"(Things were) not up to snuff with grooming and needing nails cut," she said.
Ms. Keddy could not say whether Alice will be facing animal cruelty charges after the SPCA seized 24 animals from her Summit Street home Friday.
But Zonda will likely be charged by the weekend, Ms. Keddy said. The SPCA has been waiting to file all of its medical paperwork about the animals before pressing charges, she said.
The cats and dogs seized from Celtic Pets Rescue are being housed at shelters around the Halifax area. Anyone interested in making a donation to help with the extra expense of caring for the sick animals can contact the Nova Scotia SPCA. | Source: The Chronicle Herald - Feb 12, 2007
Update posted on Feb 13, 2008 - 1:42AM |
For the second time in less than a week, animals were seized from a home in the Strait area due to concerns of cruelty and neglect.
Two provincial SPCA investigators, one special constable and RCMP officers from the Port Hawkesbury detachment arrived at the home of Alice MacIsaac in Port Hawkesbury at 6:30 p.m. Friday, with a warrant to seize animals in her care.
The SPCA said it found out late last week that MacIsaac was harbouring an excessive number of animals in her home, suspected to be overflow from the Celtic Pets Rescue. A search resulted in the seizure of 24 dogs and one cat.
Alice MacIsaac is the mother of Zonda MacIsaac, owner of Celtic Pets Rescue, a shelter that the SPCA shut down Feb. 2. The elder MacIsaac is also a former volunteer with the SPCA, but was stripped of her duties as special constable last October.
"When we received the warrant to seize the animals at the Celtic Pets Rescue shelter, we had no idea that it would escalate further," provincial SPCA president Pamela Keddy said in a news release.
Most of the animals seized Friday appear to have sound temperaments, but each will need to be fully assessed before any will be made available for adoption, the SPCA also said. Some of the dogs were taken directly to the the Metro Animal Emergency Clinic in Dartmouth for assessment and treatment. The SPCA has been moving dogs from its Metro Shelter to other SPCA shelters across the province as well as to foster homes in order to accommodate the recent influx of dogs.
In total, the SPCA has seized 51 dogs and 79 cats from the MacIsaacs over the past week. All the cats from the seizure are being housed at a rental space.
MacIsaac's daughter, Zonda, is facing numerous criminal charges stemming from last Saturday's raid on her animal rescue business, Celtic Pets Rescue.
Most animals found at Celtic Pets Rescue had matted fur drenched in urine and feces.
One dog and one cat were found dead inside the house belonging to Zonda MacIsaac. Two other cats had broken paws that were untreated and didn't fuse properly. Many cats have ear mites and upper respiratory illnesses and most of the animals were dehydrated. A few of the animals have been placed on IVs and some may have urinary blockages.
The animals were transported to a shelter in Halifax for treatment. However, three cats were euthanized due to a contagious feline leukemia.
This case is considered one of the worst incidents of neglect yet found by the provincial SPCA.
Zonda MacIsaac has been a well-known animal rescuer who has placed more than 500 unwanted and homeless pets into adoption over the last six years.
Alice MacIsaac was listed as the vice-president of Celtic Pets Rescue - a direct conflict with her duties as Port Hawkesbury's animal control officer. The SPCA removed her as its special constable in October.
During a brief interview Thursday, Alice MacIsaac told the Cape Breton Post she was advised by her lawyer not to comment to the media. And when reached by phone to comment on Friday night's raid, MacIsaac again offered no comment.
Zonda MacIsaac has been in hospital in Sydney since the animal seizure last weekend. Her phone has also been disconnected.
There is no word yet on whether the elder MacIsaac will also face charges of animal cruelty and neglect.
Meanwhile, the SPCA is seeking donations to help these and other animals in care. To help, contact the provincial office, 902-835-4798, or go to www.spcans.ca. | Source: The Canadian Press - Feb 10, 2008
Update posted on Feb 10, 2008 - 9:37PM |
References |
