Cat Killers' Sentence Draws Anger
Activists outraged as man who taped torture gets 90 days
By Nick Pron, Staff reporter
Originally published in The Toronto Star, April 19, 2002
Anger and tears filled a Toronto courthouse moments after the man who made a snuff video of a cat killing got a 90-day jail sentence, to be served on weekends.
"This is so upsetting. It's not at all what we were expecting," said Amy White of the Toronto Humane Society, tears welling in her eyes.
White and about 100 animal rights activists were reacting to what they termed the "lenient punishment" handed down yesterday at old city hall to Jesse Michael Power, 22, and Anthony Ryan Wennekers, 26.
The pair had pleaded guilty earlier to videotaping the killing and mutilation of the cat a year ago.
Mr. Justice Edward Ormston of the Ontario Court of Justice gave Power, a first-time offender, what he termed a "blended sentence," the weekends in jail, followed by 18 months of house arrest and three years of probation.
"Why not throw in a bouquet of flowers too," muttered one of activists seated in the gallery.
Ormston gave Wennekers "time served," and freed him. The judge pointed out that the 10 1/2 months of "hard time" Wennekers had already served in the Toronto (Don) Jail awaiting trial was traditionally doubled by the court system, meaning he had served the equivalent of nearly two years in jail for his crime.
Both men had pleaded guilty to one count each of animal cruelty and mischief.
Prosecutor Robin Flumerfelt, who had been seeking the maximum 2 1/2 year sentence for the two charges, said later the crown's office will decide whether to appeal the sentence in the next month.
Detective Gordon Scott, the Toronto police officer who arrested the pair, said later the judge's decision reflected the laws of the land, which calls for a six-month maximum sentence for animal cruelty.
That law is currently being reviewed and could eventually be bumped to a maximum of five years for hurting animals, the trial heard.
But Ormston, who acknowledged to the court he has a cat, said he couldn't hand out a sentence based on what the new law might be, but what the current law called for.
He told the packed courtroom, closely watched by a dozen Toronto police officers and court guards, that he had to hand out punishment based "on logic, not emotion."
Ormston said the courts regarded guilty pleas as a sign that the accused were acknowledging their crime, were showing remorse and "wanted to get on with their lives."
"Both are young men and not beyond redemption," noted the judge.
What upset many of the onlookers was a comment by the judge that the snuff video was "not the worst of offences."
"It was a clear case of animal butchery, caught on tape," White said later.
"I can't believe that a human being can say the cat didn't suffer enough to warrant a far harsher sentence," said Ann Gibson, who heads a Toronto group fighting for tougher sentences.
"Our legal system treats animals like they are things, and that has to change," said Lesley Bisgould, a lawyer who represents animal rights activists.
While protesters were shouting "shame on you," and "unjust" on the front steps of the courthouse, Wennekers was hustling out the back door, a sweater covering his orange coveralls.
Power was taken briefly into custody and later released until his weekend sentences begin.
