Summary of the Harassment of Suzanne Lahaie Connected with the Kensington Cat Torture Case

Lahaie’s involvement in animal rights and cat rescue

In 2000, Freedom for Animals organized a number of protests against the Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Toronto, using the slogan “University of Torture”. The researcher involved, Barry Sessle, had earlier gained notoriety for performing pain experiments on cats—by 2000, he was conducting experiments on monkeys. Lahaie was at all the protests—during one, she was dressed as a cat in a cage. The protests received widespread publicity.

Lahaie also became well known in the Kensington Market for her work in cat rescue.

After the video was discovered, Lahaie and other members of Freedom for Animals spearheaded a campaign in Kensington Market and Toronto in general to seek the maximum penalty for the cat torturers, and to help find the third cat torturer.

Harrassment

During these times a movie, Claire’s Hat, directed by Bruce McDonald and featuring Juliette Lewis and Mickey Rourke, was filmed in part in the hallway of Lahaie’s apartment building. Some of Jesse Power’s friends were in it, giving them a chance to see exactly where Lahaie lived. Lahaie discussed with the film crew her involvement in animal rights and the University of Torture protests.

November 2000: Claire’s Hat finished filming. Harassment of Lahaie began. 5 posters in two days, in Lahaie’s mailbox, on the lobby door, and along the route she follows to get coffee. Lahaie’s mailbox was NOT labeled with her name, indicating that the perpetrators knew where she lived. The posters referred to eating cats, cutting up cats, medical experiments on cats, and the University of Toronto. One poster referred to cat as “the other white meat”, a reference to a Freedom for Animals campaign that referred to tofu as “the other white meat”.

Harassing phone calls began at the same time. The calls included the sounds of cats screeching, breathing, hang ups, etc. The calls came at all hours of the day and night, seriously disrupting Lahaie’s sleep. (Lahaie suffers from fibromyalgia, a condition characterized by chronic pain and fatigue, which is made worse by lack of sleep, and stress.)

May 2001: video of torture and cat’s body discovered. Power and Wennekers were arrested, but refused to identify the third man, known only as Matt. Power claimed he planned to eat the cat, echoing the posters Lahaie had received months earlier. The torturers used dental tools, possibly a reference to the Faculty of Dentistry experiments. Power falsely alleged he was an animal rights activist, however none of the animal rights groups in Toronto knew of Power before the torture video, and all animal rights groups have denounced his actions.

2001-2004: Harassing phone calls continued, including a mockery of a song Lahaie wrote about Kensington. More phone calls occurred around court appearances of the cat torturers and other Freedom for Animals events related to the case.

The doorknob of Suzanne's apartment was vandalized.

Lahaie and Susan Krajnc were followed by Power’s friends and videotaped from Spadina and St. Andrew to Spadina and Nassau.

Vandalism in the lobby of Lahaie’s building and in the hallway outside her door (which is only supposed to be accessible by residents and their guests). The buzzer in the lobby for Lahaie’s apartment was destroyed and the area where her name would have been was scratched out. Graffiti next to intercom. An abstract picture of a cat was painted next to Lahaie’s apartment door.

2004: Lahaie saw Matt Kaczorowski’s friends in the lobby of her building. After they left, she found vandalism referring to “Matt” and “Theatre of Cruelty”. (Power’s friend, Jubal Brown, “curated” something called “Self Defecating Theatre of Cruelty” at the Images Festival, Toronto, April 2004).

July 2004: more vandalism referring to “Matt” in Lahaie’s lobby.

July or August 2004: Sharp fragments of glass were glued low down on a wall outside Lahaie’s building where Lahaie sometimes sits. (Lahaie covered it with Polyfilla and spray paint to prevent injury.)

July or August 2004: pieces of glass sprinkled at entrance of lobby door and on window sill in lobby.

September 2004: Linda Feesey showed up at the first Casuistry protest and laughed in Lahaie's face when confronted about her use of unauthorized footage of Suzanne in Casuistry.

September 2004: A man identifying himself only as "an independent film-maker" filmed one of the Casuistry protests. Later he was discovered to be Zev Asher, director of Casuistry.

The Toronto Police, 14 Division, was contacted after many of these incidents. They said there was nothing they could do.

Lahaie is living in a state of fear and her health has become worse because of the stress of the harassment. Nevertheless she is determined to continue her activism on behalf of Kensington and other victims of cruelty.

Linda Feesey’s Film, Casuistry

Linda Feesey began work on a film about the cat torture case and contacted Lahaie to get an interview with her on a one-on-one basis. Krajnc did a background check on Feesey and learned that Feesey associates with Power and his friends and had made films with some of them. (For example, in 2002 Feesey produced a film, Mr. Kafka’s Holiday, starring Power’s friend and apologist Jubal Brown.) Lahaie refused to grant an interview.

Later on, during the court appearances, Feesey caught Lahaie offguard: Lahaie was under enormous stress because her mother was dying, she was suffering ongoing harassment related to the case, and her health problems (fibromyalgia) were exacerbated. Lahaie granted an interview, not realizing that this interviewer was the same person who was associated with Power. The interview focussed on Power, the harassment Lahaie was suffering, and Lahaie’s involvement in the case. During the interview, Feesey said that she knew Lahaie was involved in the case from the beginning. She focussed too much on Lahaie, rather than the cat, which made Lahaie nervous.

When Lahaie realized the interviewer was one of Power’s associates, she told Feesey that none of the footage from the interview was to be used and she wanted no part of the film. Fearing for her safety, Lahaie did not tell Feesey she knew of Feesey’s connection to Power. Since then Feesey tried repeatedly to get consent from Lahaie to use the footage, and to conduct future interviews. She also said that Zev Asher (producer) wanted to meet with Lahaie.

In 2004, Feesey attended a memorial for Kensington organized by Lahaie and other members of Freedom for Animals, and became angry at Lahaie for her continued refusal to participate in the film. She said there was nothing to worry about, and the Detective Margetson granted an interview. Four other people at the memorial also refused to let Feesey interview them because they got a bad vibe from her.

A woman who looked like Feesey was seen behind Lahaie’s apartment taking photographs through the window.

Feesey’s film, Casuistry: The Art of Killing a Cat, is scheduled to appear at the Toronto International Film Festival September 14. The subtitle, referring to the video as art, supports Power’s excuse for making the video. According to a review published in the Toronto Sun, Power, Wennekers, and many supporters are given a platform in the film to excuse their actions.

Other Crimes Jesse Power and Matt Kaczorowski May Have Committed

Lahaie was told by two different people on separate occasions that Power may have killed a homeless man. (One of the people has a relative involved in the law.)

Someone witnessed a fight on Queen Street in which Matt stabbed or attempted to stab a man. Detective Margetson of 14 Division, and 22 Division, both know of this incident.

A source said Power had a scrap book of drawings of skinned boys and girls.

Someone said that Power has probably buried animals he has killed in a friend’s backyard.

Power was accused of theft in 2004. His next court appearance will be September 10, 2004, in Oshawa (room 6, 9:30 am).

Last updated September 27, 2004.