Activists applaud appeal in cat-torture case
House arrest, weekends in jail too light a sentence, Crown argues
From Canadian Press, Toronto Star, May 16, 2002
Animal-rights activists hailed a Crown decision today to challenge a sentence of house arrest and weekend jail time imposed on a man who skinned a live cat and tortured it to death.
"It sends a signal that crimes against animals will be considered more seriously," said Susan Kranjnc of the Toronto organization Freedom for Animals.
"That is an extremely lenient sentence and that was exactly what (Jesse Power's) lawyer asked for."
Power, 22, was sentenced in April to 90 days in jail to be served on weekends, plus house arrest requiring him to stay in his home except to attend school and work, followed by three years' probation.
He and Anthony Wennekers, 25, had both pleaded guilty to one count each of cruelty to animals and mischief. No challenge will be made to the sentence imposed on Wennekers.
Because he already spent 10 1/2 months in pre-sentencing custody for the crime, Wennekers was released from jail in April.
"The Crown is of the belief that an appeal against Mr. Wennekers' sentence is not viable," said Brendan Crawley, spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney General.
Crawley declined to comment further on the case because it is being appealed.
In sentencing Power in April, Judge Ted Ormston told a Toronto courtroom packed with tearful animal-rights activists that he didn't sentence Power to the maximum sentence of 2 1/2 years because he didn't feel the crime justified it.
"There are worse ways that this cat could have died," Ormston said at the time.
"I find the cat died a cruel death at the hands of these men, but I do not find it was the worst offence."
Kranjnc said that comment was especially irritating to her and "many people in the community who are outraged" by the cat's violent death and the sentence.
During sentencing, a gruesome videotape of the cat's mutilation was played to the courtroom, bringing many spectators to tears.
For 15 minutes last May, Power, Wennekers and another man hung a cat by its neck from a telephone cord, slit its throat, stabbed, kicked and skinned it.
They then plucked out an eye with a dental tool and ripped off an ear with a pair of pliers.
Police are still hunting for the third man who took part in the bizarre mutilation, the motive of which remains unclear.
Power's lawyer, Andrea Tuck-Jackson, told court it was part of a college art project by her client, a committed vegetarian, intended to make a statement against the cruelty of meat-eaters.
Amy White, a spokeswoman for the Toronto Humane Society who followed the case closely, said she was "very pleased" by Thursday's appeal.
"We were very disappointed by the verdict that Power got," White said. "Hopefully we will see better results the next go-around."
