A farmer guilty of killing a dog husky

A farmer who shot a dog in the neighborhood because he was running after her hens had been found guilty of careless use of a firearm, even if you think you have done well.

“It has acted promptly and prematurely, irritated by the situation. This was not the first time that a dog came to his farm ; he always managed to hunt them down. This time, he wanted to kill the dog, and he did, ” said judge Sandra Blanchard, in a recent ruling at the palais de justice in Saint-Jérôme.

Michael Steimer, age 41, is the owner of a farm in Saint-André-d’argenteuil, where he raises pigs, cows and free-range chickens.

On October 11, 2018, he had completed the slaughter of pigs when he saw a dog of breed husky in his yard, with a chicken dead in the vicinity.

Saying ” upset “, he said that the dog had started to run after other hens, and that one of them had lost feathers before the dog returns to sit. Convinced that the beast wanted to kill his poultry, Steimer went to arm themselves.

“Without further ado, he fires two shots “, a summary of the judge.

Just after, he learned that the husky had belonged to the daughter of her neighbors, and she came out of the lose sight of.

At the trial, the latter described his pet as ” very small, loyal, friendly, who never showed any signs of aggression “.

Steimer has explained to the court that he thought he was entitled to kill the animal who took his poultry.

However, noted the judge, the breeder has not seen the dog kill the chicken. And when he started to run around the other, he does the attacking, not really.

“And even in the case where he attacked them, [Steimer] certainly had other means at his disposal to protect them, ” said the judge, pointing out that, of the confession of the accused, his presence was sufficient to deter the husky.

Like Steimer has acted too quickly by ignoring the options that would have enabled them to scare the dog without killing it, the magistrate was found guilty of having intentionally killed a pet, as well as careless use of a firearm.

“It went beyond what a reasonable person would have done and used excessive violence that our society does not tolerate it,” said the judge, recalling that, under the Law on the well-being and safety of the animal“the human species has a responsibility […] to ensure ” on them.

Steimer will return to court in two weeks for the arguments on the sentence to impose.

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