SASKATOON -- The owner of one of 14 dogs that died from heat stroke and dehydration at a boarding kennel says her family is relieved that a charge has been laid.
Dawn Loessin says pet owners had braced themselves after being told that the chance of a charge "was slim to none" because animal protection laws are vague in Canada and Saskatchewan.
"We kind of were hoping for the best, but psyching ourselves up for nothing, so that the charges were formally laid today was awesome," Loessin said Wednesday.
"It just meant to us that our dogs mattered and that there was a big step forward in the animal laws and that hopefully we're going to now get justice for our dogs."
A 50-year-old Saskatoon man is charged with negligence under the Animal Protection Act. He is to appear in provincial court March 29.
Police said the charge followed an investigation done with the Saskatoon SPCA into the deaths last September at the Playful Paws Pet Centre.
Investigators said the animals were left unattended overnight and were without water in a room that was dangerously warm.
The family still misses its one-year-old husky-shepherd cross named Linc, who was also a therapy dog for Loessin's 15-year-old daughter Sydney. Linc helped with Sydney's anxiety disorder.
"She's dealing with it. Obviously, today is a rough day," said Loessin.
"And she's got definitely now more good days than bad ... she's just trying to move on."
A message posted on the pet centre's Facebook page in September said a mechanical failure in a rooftop heating unit caused it to continuously pump warm air into one of its upstairs kennel rooms and that staff were devastated by the deaths.
Patricia Cameron, executive director of the Saskatoon SPCA, said at the time that there are no licensing regulations for kennels.
On Wednesday, she said a conviction for negligence under the Animal Protection Act can net a fine of not more than $25,000 or up to two years in jail, or both.
But it's unusual to see penalties at the top end, Cameron said.
"That's one of the issues that the community has been having with cases of animal neglect and cruelty is that there's often fairly light penalties," she said. "People feel it should be a more significant deterrent."
The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association's code of practice for kennels outlines humane care for dogs, including proper sanitary conditions, space for each animal, nutritious contaminant-free food and adequate potable water.
Provincial regulations refer to the code of practice, but there is no requirement for operators to follow the standards.
Loessin said the deaths made pet owners realize how lax kennel laws are and this could be a step towards change.
"Hopefully now that the ball has started rolling, hopefully what is now being voluntarily done by a lot of kennels, now becomes the norm and the regulation."
