Five dogs beaten to death, one injured
Minto, NB (CA)Incident Date: Thursday, Mar 6, 2008
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Dismissed (Conditional)
Person of Interest: Keith C. Barton
Case Updates: 4 update(s) available
RCMP are investigating the deaths of five dogs that were about to be removed from a property in Minto, N.B., by the local humane society.
The Society for the Prevention to Cruelty to Animals, accompanied by the central New Brunswick village animal control officer, were conducting an inspection of the property on Thursday when the dead dogs were found, said the police.
Keith Barton had applied for a licence for Pet Me Kennel, said animal protection officer David Lynch, and a follow-up inspection was being conducted after he had been told to clean up the property.
It was determined that the property still didn't meet kennel standards when a puppy and its mother were found on soiled, wet blankets, Lynch said.
Barton was playing with the dogs in the yard as the 11 Pomeranians began to be seized, Lynch said. The protection officer said he noticed Barton takings dogs into a shed and thought he was looking for privacy to say goodbye to the animals.
"When he came out of the shed, he put on a coat. He sat on a chair on his back step, and he never said a word ," Lynch said. "I went into the shed to take the animals, and that's when I discovered that... they were dead."
Five of the dogs inside the shed were dead and one was seriously injured, Lynch said.
He then called the RCMP, and Barton was arrested. He was later released. No charges have been laid.
Police said they are investigating to determine how the dogs died. Charges cannot be laid if it is shown that the animals died in a humane manner.
"We're still waiting to hear back from the SPCA on cause of death, and we'll go from there," said Cpl. Mike Beauchamp.
Barton told CBC News that the dogs were killed humanely.
The dog that was injured is recovering at a veterinary hospital.
Case UpdatesA Minto man has been acquitted of animal cruelty charges in connection with the deaths of five Pomeranian puppies.
Keith Barton killed the dogs with a hammer in April 2008 when SPCA officers went to his kennel to seize his 13 dogs.
Judge Patricia Cumming found Barton not guilty of cruelty in killing his five dogs but she did, however, find him guilty of injuring a dog.
At the provincial court in Burton on Tuesday afternoon, the judge said during the trial that the evidence showed the dogs were rendered unconscious when they were hit with Barton's carpenter's hammer and therefore they did not suffer.
In the case of one dog, named Jake, who survived, Cumming found it likely that it did suffer pain. The judge found Barton guilty of injuring the dog in contravention of the Criminal Code of Canada.
When Barton testified in November he described the day he killed his dogs as "the worst day of my life, when I had to do that to my babies."
Barton also faced three charges under the provincial SPCA Act of failing to give proper care to his 13 Pomeranians. Cumming ruled Barton failed to give water to these animals and she fined him the minimum of about $120 on each case.
When the sentence was handed down in the provincial court, Barton silently bowed his head.
He did say that he was willing to pay the total fine of about $550 immediately.
The judge gave him a conditional discharge, with the condition that he cannot own a dog or pet for the next 12 months. | Source: CBC News - Feb 3, 2009
Update posted on Feb 3, 2009 - 3:28PM |
An animal-protection officer wiped away tears as he testified yesterday about discovering the carcasses of five little lapdogs, apparently killed by a breeder who didn't want the New Brunswick SPCA to seize his animals.
The trial for Keith C. Barton, 73, of Minto, got under way yesterday in Burton provincial court.
He's accused of five March 6 counts of killing dogs and one count of injuring a dog, all under the Criminal Code of Code. He also faces three counts of failing to provide adequate food, water, shelter and/or care under the provincial SPCA Act.
First to testify yesterday was New Brunswick SPCA animal-protection officer David Lynch, who told the court he visited Barton's home Feb. 28 to assist village dog constable Tammy Boucher in assessing the state of the Pomeranian breeding kennel that Barton operated on his property.
He said the kennel wasn't being cleaned regularly, and there was an abundance of feces in evidence.
"I didn't see a lot of food or a lot of water," Lynch said. "General housekeeping was quite poor."
"It was the smell that would get you the most when you first went in," Boucher testified.
Barton told him he wasn't in good health so it was difficult for him to clean up, Lynch said, so he suggested he hire someone to help him.
The animal-protection officer said he gave Barton a week to clean things up or he'd have to seize the dogs.
Lynch said when he and Boucher returned a week later, the baby-barn kennel was a bit cleaner but still not fit for animals.
"I explained to Mr. Barton that it was not up to standard," he said, and he told the breeder he'd have to seize the dogs until the kennel was cleaned up.
He and Boucher also found that one of the dogs had just given birth to a new Pomeranian pup, about two hours old. Lynch said he asked Barton to take them into his house where it was warm.
Lynch said he agreed to give Barton a little while to find an alternate facility for the dogs rather than seize them. About 30 to 40 minutes passed as Barton puttered about his property, he said, going back and forth between his house and the baby barn.
When Barton admitted he hadn't found another place for the dogs, Lynch said, he went to seize them and discovered dog carcasses in the baby barn.
"At that point, I went outside and asked him what the hell he had done," he said, noting the dogs had been alive when he and Boucher arrived on the scene. "I found five dogs, all dead."
Three of the dogs were bloody, and two weren't, he said.
During his testimony, Lynch paused to wipe away tears a couple of times and to maintain his composure.
Boucher said she found a sixth dog that was still alive but clearly injured.
They called the RCMP, and when officers arrived, Barton was placed under arrest.
Lynch said he seized all of the animals on the property, both from the kennel and in the house. The carcasses he took to an animal pathologist for necropsies and the surviving animals were taken to a vet for examination and treatment.
The sixth injured dog survived, he said, but the newborn pup died the night of March 6.
All of the surviving dogs were adopted.
"I don't recollect him (Barton) showing any remorse, no," Lynch said.
Following his testimony, Lynch told reporters the experience at Barton's kennel has changed the way he does his job.
"I won't let anybody out of my sight any more," he said, and he tries to be more proactive in his work.
RCMP Cpl. Michel Beauchamp said he and another officer searched the Barton home March 7, looking for a weapon that might have been used to kill the Pomeranians. He said Barton was forthcoming.
"He said, 'It's right there,'" the officer said, noting Barton pointed to a fridge.
On top was a hammer, Beauchamp said | Source: Times-Transcript - Sept 10, 2008
Update posted on Sep 11, 2008 - 12:43AM |
A Minto man is expected to appear in provincial court in Burton on April 28 to face six charges relating to animal cruelty. RCMP Sgt. Derek Strong said Keith C. Barton, 72, is charged with six counts of injuring or endangering animals at a dog kennel in Minto on March 6, 2008.
Dave Lynch, an SPCA animal protection officer, said in an earlier interview that five dogs died of blunt-force trauma. Eight Pomeranian dogs were rescued.
RCMP said they believed the site was being used as a breeding kennel.
Stephanie Walsh, executive director of the Fredericton SPCA, said neglect and abuse of animals is common in New Brunswick.
Although federal legislation has just passed on animal cruelty laws, Walsh said it doesn't go far enough. | Source: Daily Gleaner - April 15, 2008
Update posted on Apr 15, 2008 - 2:41PM |
Ronald is defying the odds and is continuing to recover from a traumatic blow to the head that left him with a fractured skull.
The nine-year-old Pomeranian was one of eight dogs rescued March 6 by New Brunswick SPCA officers from a home in Minto.
Five others were killed by what the SPCA described as "blunt-force trauma" before they could be taken to safety.
Among those left for dead was Ronald.
Tracy Marcotullio, a supervisor with the Oromocto and area SPCA, said the tiny dog is showing remarkable signs of recovery.
"He's done quite well," Marcotullio said Monday. "When he came in, he couldn't stand. He would just flop over.
"When we did the X-ray and realized he had a skull fracture, it kind of all made sense."
The good news is that Ronald is eating, can stand and walk a few steps, she said.
"He is certainly not out of the woods," Marcotullio said. "It's still iffy. When you look at the X-ray, you can see where the blunt-force trauma was and where his skull is actually separated.''
She said it's a serious injury.
"He's doing really well, but we never say anything is fine because we have never really dealt with this situation before."
Ronald may be facing surgery, depending on his recovery.
The incident in which Ronald was injured and the other dogs killed is under investigation by both the New Brunswick SPCA and District 2 RCMP.
Sgt. Ken Goodine said police are in the final stages of putting evidence together and will be submitting their findings soon to the Crown prosecutor's office in Burton, where the final decision on a charge or charges will be made.
"The evidence will be presented to the Crown this week," Goodine said Monday. "The investigation has been pretty well pulled together."
Paul Melanson, chief inspector with the New Brunswick SPCA, said his organization will be meeting soon with the RCMP. He said the N.B. SPCA Act allows his organization to file its own charges, but no decision has been made yet.
Marcotullio said there were eight dogs seized from the Minto location that day. Of those animals, a newborn puppy has since passed away, leaving seven.
One of the dogs will have to have a limb amputated because of "an old broken leg" that was never set properly. It dangles separately from the bone it should be attached to.
Another Pomeranian will have to have surgery on its kneecap.
"Many of them have few, if any, teeth," Marcotullio said. "Quite a few of them were very thin when they came in because, we assume, (they) were being fed large pieces of food that they can't eat. We have them on a diet of very small kibble and canned food."
The seized dogs range in age from the newborn to five months -- with the oldest, Ronald, being between the age of nine and 10.
All of the seized dogs are in foster care because they aren't ready for adoption yet. Several Oromocto SPCA staff members are participating in caring for the animals, with Ronald falling under the personal care of an area veterinarian.
Marcotullio said she and her staff have seen many things over the years, but this incident has left them shaken.
"This particular one was disturbing in its own right, just because of the nature of what it was," Marcotullio said. "I've been doing this for 10 years and we've have seen some really bad things, but this tops it. We've had animals that were maybe in worse shape, but this has been so brutal.
"The brutality of what happened that day, is inexplicable." | Source: The Daily Gleaner - March 18, 2008
Update posted on Mar 18, 2008 - 4:35PM |
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