Dog owner sentenced to jail

Date: Thurs­day, Feb­ru­ary 08, 2024

For Imme­di­ate Release

Dog own­er sen­tenced to jail

Fred­er­ic­ton, New Brunswick – Bernard Bouchard of Miramichi has been sen­tenced for ani­mal cru­el­ty. Bouchard was con­vict­ed in Miramichi Provin­cial Court on Feb­ru­ary 6, 2024, for fail­ing to pro­vide a dog with ade­quate med­ical atten­tion when the ani­mal was wound­ed and will­ful neglect in pro­vid­ing food, water, shel­ter, and care under the SPCA Act of New Brunswick and the Crim­i­nal Code of Cana­da. The sen­tenc­ing includ­ed 45 days of jail time (to be served at home), a 20-year pro­hi­bi­tion from own­ing any ani­mals, resti­tu­tion of $821, and a $500 fine. 

In addi­tion, the court con­vict­ed Hugo Bouchard for fail­ing to pro­vide a dog with med­ical atten­tion and sen­tenced him to a 20-year pro­hi­bi­tion from own­ing ani­mals, and a fine of $500.

On June 21, 2022, Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Offi­cers of the New Brunswick SPCA respond­ed to a report of a neglect­ed dog (https://nbspca.ca/blog/a‑new-life-for-link). The dog ​“Link” was found chained in the back­yard with the chain embed­ded in his neck. Link was imme­di­ate­ly res­cued by the attend­ing Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Offi­cer and tak­en for med­ical treat­ment. ​“I am very proud of the excel­lent work and ded­i­ca­tion of our Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Offi­cers in ensur­ing a suc­cess­ful con­clu­sion to this case”, said Tony Porter, Chief Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Offi­cer at the New Brunswick SPCA. 

“Link’s was a very seri­ous case of ani­mal cru­el­ty. The sen­tence giv­en by the judge in this case should serve as a reminder to pet own­ers that if you fail to look after your ani­mals, you could face seri­ous con­se­quences,” said Porter. 

The NBSP­CA has expe­ri­enced a con­tin­u­ous increase in calls relat­ed to ani­mal wel­fare between 2020 and 2023. Of con­cern is the 62% increase in seri­ous cas­es relat­ed to ani­mals injured/​requiring med­ical atten­tion or inad­e­quate food, water, and shel­ter, dur­ing this time.

Pet own­ers are legal­ly respon­si­ble to pro­vide for the care of their ani­mals. If you are unable to care for your ani­mals, please reach out for help from friends or fam­i­ly mem­bers for assis­tance. Anoth­er option would be to reach out to your local SPCA Ani­mal Shel­ter, local Cat/​Dog Res­cue group, or the NBSP­CA. These pro­fes­sion­als can help by either tak­ing in the ani­mal or giv­ing you options that would keep your pet safe while look­ing for a new home.

If you sus­pect or wit­ness ani­mal cru­el­ty or neglect, please call the New Brunswick SPCA ²⁴⁄₇ hot­line at 1−877−722−1522.

About New Brunswick SPCA

Found­ed in 1881, New Brunswick SPCA (NBSC­PA) is the only province-wide orga­ni­za­tion man­dat­ed to enforce ani­mal pro­tec­tion laws. A ded­i­cat­ed team of 15 Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Offi­cers is vest­ed with the author­i­ty under the SPCA Act of New Brunswick to inves­ti­gate and, if nec­es­sary, lay charges, seize ani­mals, or rec­om­mend court orders to per­sons sus­pect­ed of abuse and cru­el­ty to animals. 

The NBSP­CA is a reg­is­tered char­i­ty that exists to pro­vide province-wide lead­er­ship in the humane treat­ment of ani­mals. We enforce rel­e­vant leg­is­la­tion, ensure shel­ter for neglect­ed or abused domes­ti­cat­ed ani­mals and agri­cul­tur­al ani­mals, and pro­vide pub­lic edu­ca­tion and advo­ca­cy to empow­er New Brunswick­ers to help ani­mals live long and healthy lives. 

To learn more vis­it www​.nbsp​ca​.ca

Media Con­tact:

Mir Hyder

Mar­ket­ing and Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Manager

New Brunswick SPCA

mirh@​nbspca.​ca

Avail­able for Interview:

Tony Porter

Chief Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Officer

New Brunswick SPCA