Area residents face cruelty to animals charges

Case has attracted the interest of artists, animal rights groups

by Annemarie Brissenden, Liberty Gleaner, July 2001

Liberty residents facing cruelty to animals charges will reappear in court this month for another pretrial hearing. Alberta native Anthony Wenneker, 24, and Jessie Powers, 21, who moved to Toronto from Quebec, will be at Old City Hall on Friday, July 13.

A publication ban has prevented The Gleaner from reporting on details of the proceedings to date. Pre-trial press bans are not uncommon and they severely limit what the media can report about the case.

The Gleaner can reveal that charges were laid after police, acting on a tip, viewed a videotape collected as evidence from Powers and Wenneker's Bathurst and Queen resident. Animal remains were found in the apartment, as well as live animals, including a dog, which was handed over by police to the Humane Society. Also found were additional videotapes, whose contents remain unknown to the general public.

As well as caring for the rescued animals retrieved from the apartment, the Humane Society is trying to find the owner of the cat shown in the video. According to Amy White, director of communications for the Toronto Humane Society, police are working on the assumption that it was an owned cat because it appeared to be a "well-fed fat cat." Under current laws, cruelty to animals is considered a summary offence with a maximum six-month jail term. If the cat was owned, police can add destruction of property to the charges and seek a greater penalty.

As Susan Krajnc of the Cruelty to Animals Hotline says, "we are still looking for information about this cat, we're postering all over, and a third guy is still at large." Kensington area animal rights activists who have been galvanized by the case are also participating in the search for the suspect. Posters show a picture of the rescued cat [note: this is an error, posters showed the murdered cat] alongside a photograph of the wanted man, identified only as "Matt," who is sought by police. He is a white male in his early 20s described as approximately 5'10" with a slender build, blue eyes and light hair.

The case has become a lightning rod in the recent effort to lobby for stronger penalties against those who abuse animals. In the spring parliamentary session, the federal government tabled an omnibus bill that would overhaul several sections of the Criminal Code with a single bill, rather than by individual amendments. Cruelty to animals would become an indictable (instead of a summary) offence with a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison (currently six months). These offences would no longer be treated as property crimes and there would be no limit to fines or the amount of time a judge could prevent anyone convicted of such crimes from owning an animal. Judges would also have the authority to force those convicted with cruelty to animals offences to pay restitution to animal welfare organizations who cared for the animals in question. Threated with a filibuster by the Alliance (who object, among other things, that some lawful uses of animals, like hunting and husbandry, might be seen as crimes under the bill's cruelty to animals sections) the Liberals have delayed further debate until the fall term.

Animal rights activists are especially concerned by the remaining tapes seized from Powers' residence, and unconfirmed claims disseminated on the internet and in the press that the tapes depict more acts of cruelty to a variety of animals. However, a source who asked not to be named told The Gleaner that many of these tapes might contain Powers' video-based artwork, which has been shown in Toronto galleries. Krajnc admits that "we don't know about what's on" the videos, but she says she is still worried.

The case has also attracted the attention of Toronto's arts community, perhaps because Powers, a visual artist and part-time student at the Ontario College of Art and Design, is rumoured to be using his artistic practices as a legal defense. Cooper Sandler & West, the firm representing Powers, would not comment on any aspect of the case.

A group of artists following the case are circulating a petition throughout the arts community. Signatories affirm that they "do NOT condone the torture and/or killing of animals nor do we accept such actions as art or as part of any artistic process." The petition also affirms their "strong support" for the "passing of" the animal cruelty amendments to the Criminal Code.

Animal welfare activists are hoping to have a lobby in place by the time parliament reconvenes for the fall season.