Animal cruelty alleged
Chestermere, AB (CA)Incident Date: Wednesday, Apr 1, 2009
Disposition: Dismissed
Person of Interest: Tom Bilski
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
A Chestermere area man faces charges of animal abuse against two dogs after witnesses called the RCMP, authorities said yesterday.
Sgt. Patrick Webb said while they can't get into details about the incident, he says the alleged abuse involves a quad and two larger mixed-breed dogs.
"We're still talking to witnesses and we don't want them to be persuaded by what they hear ... The dogs are doing well," Webb said, adding the animals will not be returned to the owner.
Animal activist Heather Anderson said she heard few details about the case.
"I'm happy someone at least took into their own hands to call the RCMP," Anderson said.
Tom Bilski, 27, is set to appear in Strathmore Provincial Court on May 5.
Case UpdatesAuthorities who collared a Calgary-area farmer for animal cruelty have returned his dogs and plan to drop the charge against him.
Tom Bilski said he's happy to have his two dogs back and pleased the legal trouble is almost behind him, but he's still upset things ever got to that point in the first place.
Bilski, 28, was charged with causing unnecessary harm to animals, after someone on a neighbouring property alleged he dragged his two dogs behind an all-terrain vehicle.
Bilski said all along that he had ridden out into a field on his farm near Chestermere to rescue the animals from coyotes, and he was simply guiding them to safety while on the back of his quad.
"They're dropping everything, and that's a relief," Bilski said Tuesday, after attending provincial court in Strathmore.
Bilski has received a letter from the Crown saying the charge against him will be dropped, but a procedural mix-up prevented it from happening Tuesday.
The charge is now expected to be officially withdrawn at his next scheduled court appearance on Sept. 8.
In the meantime, however, authorities have all but acknowledged Bilski's innocence and returned his long-haired border collie, Asia, and black lab pup, Biggie, three weeks ago.
Bilski was under a court-ordered condition not to have any contact with the dogs after he was charged, so they were sheltered at his brother's home.
"They weren't used to it," Bilski said, adding the separation wasn't easy on him, either.
"It was a little different; you get so used to having them around."
What still rankles Bilski is that an allegation made by someone who was too far away from the incident to see it properly dragged on for five months.
It could have been cleared up much easier if the neighbour had spoken with him at the time, Bilski said.
"It only takes five minutes to get here," he said.
No matter how spurious the accusation may have seemed to Bilski, an RCMP spokesman said police had an obligation to look into it.
"We'd be negligent and condemned if we didn't investigate," said RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb.
The role of police is to gather evidence and lay a charge if there are "reasonable grounds," Webb said, but it's up to the courts to ultimately decide whether someone is guilty.
"When we gather evidence, we're acting as an agent of the court--we don't judge it," he said. | Source: Calgary Herald - Aug 22, 2009
Update posted on Aug 23, 2009 - 8:14PM |
A farmer east of Calgary facing an animal cruelty charge says he was saving his dogs from coyotes when someone called police alleging he'd harmed the pets.
The RCMP charged Tom Piotr Bilski, 28, with causing unnecessary harm to animals, alleging he'd used an all-terrain vehicle to harm his two dogs on Monday.
But Bilski said Wednesday he was simply using the quad to shepherd his long-haired border collie, Asia, and black lab pup, Biggie, to safety after they'd been surrounded by coyotes on his acreage near Chestermere.
"I was saving their lives," he said.
"It's the biggest misunderstanding that I've ever seen."
Bilski said the incident happened Monday afternoon after he heard coyotes baying in the field outside his house.
Bilski got onto his quad and found a small pack of coyotes around his pets, he said.
After chasing off the coyotes with the quad, Bilski said he rode back to the house with the dogs leashed alongside the vehicle, guiding them as he went.
"I wasn't even that close to them," he said.
Someone called the RCMP, who went to the property, took away the dogs and laid the charge against Bilski.
The dogs were being examined by a veterinarian and were in the care of authorities.
RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb said the dogs have scrapes but no broken limbs.
Bilski, who is not in custody, is scheduled to appear in Strathmore provincial court on May 5. He is bound by conditions banning him from contact or possession of animals. | Source: Calgary Herald - April 2, 2009
Update posted on Apr 2, 2009 - 1:21PM |
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