EDMONTON – The Alberta Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction of an Edmonton man on animal cruelty charges for using an electric cattle prod to train dogs.
Ali Sanaee was found guilty in 2015 of two counts of causing unnecessary pain and suffering to animals and was sentenced to six months in jail.
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He filed an appeal, arguing that the Crown experts who testified that cattle prods are not appropriate for use on dogs were not qualified.
Sanaee also argued that he was entitled under the law to inflict unnecessary pain in some circumstances.
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Justice Bruce McDonald rejected the arguments, saying it is unreasonable to suggest that a device that is designed to deliver a shock to an animal many times larger than a dog would not cause unnecessary pain.
Sanaee ran an animal training centre called B.A.R.K. that was shut down in 2013 after 46 dogs and seven cats were seized from the business.