NBSPCA investigation leads to fine, prohibition for the dog owner

On receiv­ing a com­plaint about neglect­ed dogs at a home in the west­ern part of New Brunswick, the Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Offi­cers (APOs) of the New Brunswick SPCA (NBSP­CA) found two 4 – 5‑year-old dogs appear­ing very weak on Jan­u­ary 27, 2023. 

The dogs were found to be in extreme­ly poor phys­i­cal con­di­tion, their ribs, spine and hips could be eas­i­ly seen and felt.

The own­er sur­ren­dered her two dogs to Offi­cers who removed them from the res­i­dence and imme­di­ate­ly trans­port­ed them to a vet­eri­nar­i­an for a full med­ical assess­ment and treatment. 

The dogs were turned over to an SPCA ani­mal shel­ter for reha­bil­i­ta­tion and sub­se­quent­ly put up for adop­tion so that they could find their for­ev­er home.

The NBSP­CA filed charges under the SPCA Act against the own­er of the dogs, Angela Sarge­field. She appeared in Wood­stock Provin­cial Court on June 20, 2023, and pled guilty to fail­ing to pro­vide shel­ter and med­ical care under the SPCA Act of New Brunswick. The court sen­tenced Ms. Sarge­field to a $500 fine and a two-year Pro­hi­bi­tion Order from own­ing dogs. 

Chief Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Offi­cer, NBSP­CA Tony Porter said ​“Our Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Offi­cers care deeply about pro­tect­ing ani­mals from cru­el­ty, abuse, and neglect. Those pet own­ers who do not pro­vide shel­ter and fail to pro­vide med­ical care to their ani­mals will have to face consequences.”

About the 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 nbsp​ca​.ca