CALGARY- A Calgary woman has been ordered to pay $7,000 in fines for exploiting animals in an online sale—the largest in the history of the Calgary Humane Society.
An exhaustive investigation by the Calgary Humane Society found Ashley Onen was using aliases to get animals for free on Kijiji. She would then allegedly neglect them, before selling them online.
One of the dogs, named S’mores, ended up at the Humane Society back in 2011, triggering the investigation. Four more dogs were seized as a result.
“This was a unique case in that the offense was motivated by profit,” said Brad Nichols, manager of Cruelty Investigations, in a statement. “This type of exploitative behaviour is concerning and deserving of a significant penalty.”
He adds that the case highlights problems with buying animals online.
“It is important that you do not advertise a pet as free to a good home to avoid these situations. On the other hand, purchasers need to be mindful of the anonymity of the internet and look for red flags upon purchase. In this case, Onen provided false identities, ages and medical histories to the purchasers.”
Onen is also banned from owning animals for 10 years.
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