Animal rights groups bring abuse case to Supreme Court

The Liberty Gleaner, July 2003

On May 28, the Crown lost its appeal seeking a tougher punishment for art student Jesse Power. In April 2002, Power was sentenced to 90 days behind bars, to be served on weekends, for his role in the death of a cat. The killing of the cat, which has been named Kensington by a local animal rights group, took 17 minutes and was caught on videotape. The crown has 60 days to appeal the latest decision. Kensington Market-based group Freedom for Animals is lobbying the Crown to take the case to the Supreme Court and co-founder Suzanne Lahaie says the group will file for intervener status if the Crown decides not to pursue the case further. The group plans to continue to hold memorials for the cat and is also pushing for the federal government to adopt Bill C-10b, which would ensure stiffer punishment for people who abuse animals. Two other young men were involved in the cat's death. Anthony Wennekers has already served a 10-month jail term, and Matthew Kaczorowski's trial is set to begin on July 11.