There were seven defence lawyers in the Old City Hall courtroom. They represented the Toronto Humane Society’s former board, its former president Tim Trow, its former chief veterinarian Stephen Sheridan, and the four other former managers who were charged with animal cruelty by the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

And yet the Crown was not building a case against any of the accused on Monday morning, but the OSPCA.

Crown Attorney Christine McGoey told the court that there were such significant flaws in the search warrant the OSPCA obtained to raid the THS shelter in November 2009, and in the manner in which the OSPCA executed the warrant, that the raid breached the Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

None of the evidence obtained after the raid, McGoey said, would be admissible in court. She then detailed the supposed breaches, listed additional reasons why the cases were unlikely to succeed, and withdrew all charges.

To Trow, Sheridan and the other managers, the decision was long-awaited vindication. To the THS employees who provided evidence to the OSPCA, it was a crushing disappointment. And to the OSPCA, the charity empowered by the province to enforce animal cruelty laws, it was an outrage.

The collapse of the OSPCA’s largest-ever animal cruelty case came three months after an uproar over its decision to euthanize 99 animals during an outbreak of ringworm. The Crown’s decision may intensify calls led by Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees for its animal care functions to be separated from its investigative functions.

At a theatrical afternoon news conference, OSPCA chair Rob Godfrey attempted to hold the Crown responsible for the failure. He also tried to redirect public attention to the conditions he said existed at the THS under Trow.

Speaking behind large photos of THS cats with infections and oozing sores — and briefly cradling a kitten — Godfrey denied the OSPCA had made any errors. Even if it had, he said, that decision “should be made by a judge in open court.” He said the Crown was “entirely uncooperative” and spent “more time preparing their documents to withdraw the charges than they did looking at the evidence.”

He called for a review by Attorney General Chris Bentley. But Bentley’s office dismissed the request, saying the decision was made after “careful and considered review” of “serious constitutional issues.”  McGoey listed “several serious breaches” of the Charter she said raised questions about whether the OSPCA had operated in good faith.

One of the breaches, she said, was the fact that the warrant contained no end date. The OSPCA said it was told by a justice of the peace that none was necessary.

Other breaches included the OSPCA’s supposedly improper use of a Criminal Code section to conduct veterinary checks; the overly wide scope of material seized, which included personnel ecords, payroll records, thank you letters and employees’ doctor’s notes; and the fact that the OSPCA invited the media into the THS while executing the warrant.

“The media’s presence for the arrest of several accused persons is also of concern,” she said.

The five men charged in November were handcuffed and led into police cars in view of photographers. Trow, former business manager Romeo Bernardino, former operations manager Gary McCracken, and former supervisor Andrew Bechtel were charged with criminal animal cruelty, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, and obstructing a peace officer. Sheridan was charged with animal cruelty and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Another manager, Vijay Kumar, was charged with animal cruelty months later. In addition, every member of the former board faced non-criminal animal cruelty charges, and the THS itself faced criminal charges.

Reached at his home, a chipper Trow referred questions to his lawyer. Andras Schreck said Trow was “obviously greatly relieved that these allegations against him have been withdrawn.” Schreck added: “It’s always been and remains Mr. Trow’s position that he’s done absolutely nothing wrong.”

Sheridan’s lawyer, Marie Henein, said he, too, was relieved. The ordeal, she said, had devastated him.

“Unfortunately it took nine months to get here, and in the course of that, a good man, a veterinarian committed to shelter medicine for 30 years, has been vilified, was taken out in handcuffs and paraded. It took him nine months to be vindicated. There is nothing that could take him back to the position he was in nine months ago.”

To obtain the search warrant, the OSPCA produced dozens of pages of statements from THS employees and volunteers in which they described animal suffering. Amanda Frank, a former THS veterinarian who provided a statement, said she was upset with both the OSPCA and the Crown.

“My heart is broken,” she said. “I was there, and I saw the animals suffering. You see that, and you just know in your heart that that is wrong. I just can’t understand how something as plain as day as animal suffering can in any way be dismissed. I just don’t understand. . . . It was a really good case. It seemed so black-and-white.”

McGoey acknowledged that the charges produced improvements at the THS. After the board composed of Trow allies resigned en masse, the charity’s members elected the current board, a group of Trow critics.

The new THS, McGoey said, “has demonstrated a commitment to proper management and treatment of animals.” Therefore, she said, she was satisfied that the conditions that existed at the THS last fall would not reoccur.

McGoey said there was evidence “to suggest that Mr. Trow was a controlling and dominating president,” that he required staff to check with him before conducting euthanizations, that there frequent delays in medical treatments, cleanings and feedings, and that there may have been shortages of medication and other resources.

However, she said, “this evidence would be highly contested.” In addition, she said, a challenge to the charges on abuse-of-process grounds would have made prosecution additionally difficult. She also relied in part on a December judgment made by an obscure body called the Animal Care Review Board, which hears appeals of OSPCA compliance orders.

After reviewing a June 2009 OSPCA inspection of THS animals, the board concluded that cages were clean, ventilation was adequate, and animals were being fed. This, McGoey said, would have made it “difficult for the Crown to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that senior officers of the THS willfully permitted animal suffering by failing to exercise reasonable care.”

Link to article:  

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/848293--all-charges-dropped...