Case Snapshot
Case ID: 9101
Classification: Mutilation/Torture
Animal: cat
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Drugs or alcohol involved
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Monday, Feb 14, 2005


Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: John Ronald Hughes

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

A Fernie man is on trial in a case of animal cruelty.

John Ronald Hughes, 24, is charged with one count of unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal, one count of willfully causing pain and suffering, as well as, a firearms offence.

Testimony centred around Sara Kons.

She is Hughes' former girlfriend.

Kons testified that her cat was placed in a microwave and cooked for 55 seconds.

It died moments after being removed.

Three weeks later, Kons came home to find fur on the stovetop and blood in the tub after what she says was an attempt to kill her surviving cat.

When she found it, the animal's eyes were glued shut.

The trial resumes June 29.


Case Updates

A British Columbia man has been found guilty of animal cruelty for putting a cat in a microwave.

The incident occurred on Valentine's Day, 2005. John Ronald Hughes, who had been drinking earlier in the evening, was at his girlfriend's house when he sat on a couch that collapsed, causing severe injuries to his girlfriend's cat underneath it. The animal was left gasping for air.

Mr. Hughes woke his girlfriend, Sara Kons, who was sleeping upstairs. She told him the local veterinarian was out of town and advised him to break the cat's neck to put it out of its misery.

Ms. Kons went back to sleep, but was awakened shortly afterward by the sound of the microwave door. When she went downstairs, she saw Mr. Hughes holding the cat outside the microwave oven. The cat, still breathing, was convulsing and making a scream-like sound.

"It was horrible � I started yelling at him, 'What are you doing?' and I was in complete shock. Like, something like that doesn't happen every day," Ms. Kons testified in B.C. Provincial Court.

Mr. Hughes threw the cat at her. "I missed catching it and it hit the ground in front of me, gasping a few times while it was still convulsing, and died," Ms. Kons said.

Mr. Hughes was initially acquitted of the animal-cruelty charge in Provincial Court. However, Mr. Justice F.W. Cole of the B.C. Supreme Court overturned that ruling in an appeal heard earlier this year. A written copy of the judgment was released Friday.

Mr. Hughes, 26, is to be sentenced on July 8 for causing unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal.

"We'd like absolutely the maximum penalty given out in a case like this," Lori Chortyk, a spokesperson for the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said in a recent interview.

Sometimes, she said, animals are in distress because people do not know the right thing to do, but using a microwave is never an option. "There could be no reason to put a cat in a microwave," Ms. Chortyk said.

The B.C. incident attracted little media attention, unlike a case in Alberta earlier this year. A 13-year old and three 15-year-olds have been accused of breaking into a home and putting the family cat in a microwave, killing it.

Alberta media reported that thousands of people denounced the incident on the online social network Facebook, and animal-rights groups have called for tougher federal animal cruelty laws. The Alberta teens have pleaded not guilty to unlawfully killing an animal, causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal, theft and possession of stolen property.

Mr. Hughes faces a maximum of six months in jail or a fine of up to $2,000, Crown counsel Alexandra Janse said in an interview.

The trial judge ruled that Mr. Hughes had tried to end the animal's suffering. In reversing the lower court decision, Judge Cole stated that the issue was not Mr. Hughes's intent.

"The issue is whether or not the Crown has proven that putting a cat in a microwave with a weighted strap on top of it, closing the door of a microwave and turning on the cooking device for approximately 54 seconds is willfully causing unnecessary pain, suffering or injury," the judge said.

Mr. Hughes had previously said he hated cats and had talked about what it would be like to put a cat in a microwave, the judge said, adding that he was satisfied the prosecution had proved that unnecessary pain, suffering or injury was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of putting a cat in a microwave.
Source: Globe & Mail - May 31, 2008
Update posted on May 31, 2008 - 6:11PM 
A bizarre B.C. cat-killing trial has been extended as the court hears evidence on the alleged 'felicide.'

John Ronald Hughes, a 24-year-old Fernie resident, is facing two counts of animal cruelty for his alleged role.

The one-day trial was expected to conclude on Thursday, but the hearing has been extended and the court will now reconvene in early July.

The story dates back to Valentine's Day 2005, when Sara Kons said she and Hughes, who was her boyfriend at the time, went for drinks at the Fernie Hotel.

Afterwards, she told the court, the couple returned to her home where she fell asleep while Hughes stayed up.

Kons said she later woke up to screaming, and Hughes told her the cat -- which was obviously in pain -- had been injured.

"Kons testified she believed Hughes when he told her the injuries were accidental. She says the cat was suffering. She asked him to break its neck and end the pain," said CTV Calgary's Elissa Carpenter.

According to Kons, Hughes wouldn't put the cat out of its misery and it lay on the floor convulsing, and eventually died.

She testified to the court that she believed Hughes when he told her the cat had been injured accidentally.

Three weeks later, Kons testified, she became suspicious after a second incident occurred.

Kons was out with friends, and said she returned home to find Hughes covered in scratches. There were also patches of fur on the stove and blood in the bathroom.

This time the cat survived.

Amanda Race, a witness in the trial, corroborated Kons' version of events, and he was charged with causing unnecessary pain and suffering, and willfully inflicting pain and suffering on an animal, in addition to a firearms offence.

But Hughes has his defenders as well as his detractors in the close-knit mountain community.

"I spoke to Hughes. He was polite and quiet but did not with to comment on camera. But Fernie's a small place. Friends gathered outside of court say Hughes doesn't deserve all this attention," Carpenter said.
Source: CTV.ca - June 30,2006
Update posted on Jul 1, 2006 - 8:23AM 

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