CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #3587 Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Cat shot will pellet gun, beaten to death
Hants County, NS (CA)Incident Date: Wednesday, Apr 30, 2003
Disposition: Convicted
Defendants/Suspects:
» Scott Riley
» Stephen Hawkins
Two Hants County men who shot a cat with a pellet gun and then beat it to death in 2003 pleaded guilty Tuesday and were fined $150.
Scott Riley, 22, and Stephen Hawkins, 20, were charged in 2003 after police found a videotape of the cat being killed.
The tape was in a video camera a third person was holding when police drove into a skate park in Mount Uniacke where people had open liquor.
The man with the camera was searched. Some marijuana was found in his pocket and police seized the video camera.
The man was taking a media course and always had the camera with him, he testified at an earlier hearing.
The recording was done in May or June 2003 and the faces of the two people in it were not visible.
Mr. Riley and Mr. Hawkins pleaded guilty in Windsor provincial court Tuesday (Jan 11, 2005) to charges of causing death or injury to an animal under the Animal Cruelty Protection Act.
Crown attorney Bill Fergusson said the police investigation determined that Mr. Riley's mother owned the cat and wanted it euthanized, although "if anyone wants to dispose of a cat or any other animal, there are more humane ways to do it," he said.
Mr. Riley's lawyer, Jim White, said the animal was suffering from a neurological disease so the woman asked her son to dispose of it.
"This has been a traumatic issue for him," Mr. White said.
He said Mr. Riley and Mr. Hawkins thought shooting the animal with a pellet rifle would be quick and harmless. But it didn't work and left the animal in more distress so they put it in a garbage bag and beat it to death.
The Crown and defence recommended $50 fines but Judge Alan Tufts went with the higher penalty. References
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