Dog's throat slashed
Sherwood Park, AB (CA)

Incident Date: Saturday, Feb 16, 2008

Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Shawn Eugene Rankin

Case Updates: 3 update(s) available

In the wake of the recent Camrose animal cruelty incident, another report of inhumane treatment of an animal has been reported -- this time, in Strathcona County.

In the recent incident, the alleged murder of a dog in cold-blood was the focus of the complaint, after it was found with its throat slashed from ear-to-ear.

"It's something that we feel a line was definitely crossed, but charges do have to be considered and are pending," said Cpl. Darren Anderson of the Strathcona County RCMP.

In the incident on Saturday afternoon, it's alleged that two dogs were running loose in the Camelot Square area south of Sherwood Park, when they entered a residential acreage property. One of the dogs, which was white and medium-sized, got into a fight with a dog that lived on the property. The fight was quickly broken up and resulted in minor injuries.

The white dog was then taken back to a neighbouring property where it was being cared for, though it wasn't it's home.

Later that evening, a man who lived at the home where the dog fight took place, went to the home where the white dog was being kept and said that he was going to return it to its owner.

A short while later, the neighbour heard the piercing cry of an animal in distress. The dog was found shortly after near a shed with its throat slashed.

"Any sane person would have calmed down in the time that the guy waited, which was considerable," said Voice For Animals founder Tove Reece. "People that are at all normal and sane put things in perspective very quickly. This is another case where we have to worry about people like this because they're violent."

From the time that the dogs had originally got into the scrap, five hours passed before the white dog was found dead.

"It sounds like it's a neighbourhood dispute that got out of hand, there was enough time where if cool heads had prevailed, we could have handled the dispute a lot differently," Anderson said.

The four teens charged for microwaving a cat in Camrose during a break-and-enter reserved their plea earlier this month, and their case has been put over to March 3.

Reece said that in light of the publicity achieved by the Camrose case, this recent incident should hit the limelight, hard.

"I hope that this will get some attention and people will understand that this is not that different," Reece said. "But the Camrose case was in such cold-blood and the kids were so young that people might see this more as something done out of anger."

"There's a cold-bloodedness and planning to this one too," she said. "For someone to think that a dog is guilty in the same way that a person is, I just don't understand it."

Though no charges have yet been laid in the incident, Anderson said that they're on their way and that they'll fall under cruelty to animals, indefinitely.

Though details are still unclear, the RCMP take strict policy on animal control and cruelty to animals in the county.

"If you are having any problems with stray animals that come on to your property or dog problems in general, we do have officers here that can come out and take care of the matter," Anderson said.

Though the recent cases of animal cruelty have brought the issue to light, Reece said that it shouldn't be necessary to get the wheels of justice spinning, but may be needed to put harsher penalties in place.

"Maybe the tide is changing a bit," she said, adding that the federal Anti-Cruelty legislation hasn't been updated since the 1800s, and is in serious need of revamping.

If a trial should arise in this incident, Reece said that she and members from Voice For Animals will be strong in attendance, as crimes against animals should not go unnoticed.

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