City of Edmonton, four employees charged after deaths of three feral cats

The Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) laid non-criminal charges against the City of Edmonton’s Animal Care and Control Centre (ACCC) following the deaths of three cats.

• Check out CTV Edmonton for more on four employees charged after cat deaths

The charges stem from an alleged incident that happened on May 18, 2018 where the animals had been left in a container and discovered too late.

The SPCA received a complaint in July that claimed that three cats had died after suffering distress while in the care of the ACCC.

On Thursday, the City of Edmonton said the animals, under the ACCC’s feral cat pilot program, had been transferred to another city facility just before they died.

The documents, dated Oct. 5, 2018, detail charges laid against the City of Edmonton, Animal Care and Control director Ron Gabruck, vet technician Amy Buijze, and ACCC employees Jessica Stern and Maya Dery. They’re all charged with violating the Animal Protection Act for allowing an animal to be in distress.

They’re expected to appear in court on Dec. 12.

Through the pilot program that was launched in March 2018, the ACCC would find homes for feral cats that had been brought in to them. Before being sent away, the animal welfare agency would spay or neuter them, give them a medical check and then transfer them to Edmonton city facilities and warehouses to house them.

David Aitken, Edmonton’s branch manager with community standards, said the city was “unsure of the exact reason why they died.”

“They died as part of the relocation from our facility to the intended waste facility,” he said at a news conference Thursday. He adding that two of the cats were found dead at the location, and the third died within a day.

The program has since been suspended, pending an internal investigation, with the deaths having been formally reported to the Edmonton Humane Society. The case has also been referred to Alberta SPCA for investigation.

Peter Sankoff, a law professor at the University of Alberta, said it was disturbing that details of the incident were not made public earlier.

“This is a matter of grave concern for all of us and I think explanations need to be forthcoming as soon as possible,” he said.

Mayor Don Iveson said he was “very sad” to hear about what happened to the cats and welcomed the feedback on “proactive disclosure.”

“I think we’re all relieved to hear that it’s being properly investigated, that people are being held accountable,” he added.

Edmonton’s feral cat problem

In the program’s first three months, it placed 33 cats into new homes. The City said Edmonton has nearly 65,000 feral cats, which roam mostly outdoors and rarely interact with humans. Last year, about 800 of these animals were brought into the ACCC but the City admits that many end up being euthanized since they can’t be easily adopted.

“We still think the pilot has a lot of merit, but we want to ensure that before we go forward that the processes are in place, that staff are fully trained, that we’re aware of things that can go sideways and prevent that from happening again,” Aitken said.

A month before this latest incident, three cats had spent close to three weeks without food or water after being abandoned in an Edmonton Human Society (EHS) van. The animals had been brought to the shelter on March 27 and had been forgotten there.

When the cats were discovered on April 18, CTV Edmonton reported how the creatures were dehydrated, hungry and had suffered urine burns on their paws. In that case, EHS employee Mariah Berini was charged with causing or permitting an animal to be in distress and failing to provide adequate food and water to animals. She is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 23.

With a report from CTV Edmonton’s David Ewasuk and Julia Parrish