SUPREME COURT OF NOVA SCOTIA
Citation: R. v. Benoit, 2010 NSSC 97
Date: 20100316
Docket: Dig No. 310791
Registry: Digby
Between:
Gail Benoit and Dana Bailey
Appellants
v.
Her Majesty The Queen
Respondent
LIBRARY HEADING
Judge: The Honourable Justice Peter Bryson
Heard: February 3, 2010, in Digby, Nova Scotia
Subject: Criminal law: summary conviction appeals
Summary: Appellants appealed their convictions for failing to relieve animals in distress pursuant to the Animal Cruelty Act. Benoit also appealed her convictions for assault and obstruction, pursuant to ss. 279(1) and 129 of the Criminal Code.
Issues: Whether the appellants’ Charter rights (ss. 6(2), 8, 15(1) had been breached or otherwise there had been an abuse of process; whether the Animal Cruelty Act required that the appellants be given an opportunity to relieve the distress before being charged; whether findings of distress warranted on the evidence; whether the trial judge misapplied the S.C.C. decision of R. v. W.(D.), [1991] 1 S.C.R. 742 in convicting Benoit.
Result: Appeal dismissed. No violation of appellants’ Charter rights or abuse of process. Animals (puppies) in obvious distress. No obligation to provide additional time to appellants to relieve distress. W.D. not misapplied by trial judge. No error of law. Verdicts were ones that a properly instructed jury, acting judicially, could reasonably have rendered.
THIS INFORMATION SHEET DOES NOT FORM PART OF THE COURT'S DECISION. QUOTES MUST BE FROM THE DECISION, NOT THIS LIBRARY SHEET.