Evoking one of the worst cases of animal cruelty in the country, the prosecution calls for the maximum sentence of five years in prison to punish Antoine Simard in connection with the deaths of numerous dogs at his kennel on Île d’Orléans.
“These are, Mr. Judge, and I weigh my words carefully, offenses whose facts supporting them are of a rare degree […]. I would even go so far as to say […] that these are offenses on a scale that has never been seen in Canada,” said the Crown prosecutor, Me Fabien Villemaire, at the hearing on sentencing observations on Thursday.
Simard, 44, was found guilty in June of all counts of killing or injuring dogs, causing them suffering and failing to provide food, shelter and adequate care.
The alleged acts took place between 2008 and 2022 when he was co-owner of the company Expédition Mi-Loup.
During the trial, Simard admitted to having euthanized approximately 160 puppies, due to a loss of birth control during certain seasons. He would break their necks before putting them in a freezer.
He also acknowledged the existence of a list targeting old, sick or unsightly dogs that he eliminated by injecting an asphyxiating gas into a box.
The Crown, based on the testimonies of ex-employees, estimates that the number is much higher, “probably a thousand dogs or puppies who were put to death by Mr. Simard or under his orders.”
“He himself admits to having killed a staggering number of puppies,” emphasized judge Hubert Couture in his decision.
This mistreatment was “deliberate” and carried out with a “mercantile” objective, argued Mr. Villemaire.
“We must admit that his management, both of their lives and their deaths, of these dogs, Mr. Judge, was driven by the idea of maintaining a prosperous business. This is ultimately the motive for the crime,” he believes.
Several former employees at the trial testified to several “abnormal” situations, marked by violence, pain, injuries without this being necessary,” the magistrate noted in his decision.
Even if Antoine Simard denied such methods, the public prosecutor also accuses him of killing by hanging and shooting for certain adult dogs and by freezing for puppies.
During the trial, witnesses, for example, reported hearing the cries of dying puppies emanating from a freezer.
Quite the opposite of what the public prosecutor is demanding, Simard’s lawyer, Me Stéphanie Pelletier-Quirion, instead wants a sentence of two years less a day to be served in the community.
“In my opinion, we have a risk of recurrence which is zero, a kennel which is obviously closed, an individual who no longer works in this field, an individual who in this case, according to his track record, does not constitute a danger to the community,” she argues.
On the side of his co-accused, his ex-employee Edouard Parent, who had been found guilty of the first two counts (killing or injuring dogs and causing suffering), the prosecution and the defense made a joint suggestion of 18 months of detention to be served in the community, “considering the role of the accused” in the commission of the offenses.
More details to come…
