A 35-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to causing animals to be in distress after an investigation by the Nova Scotia SPCA found she had hired someone to dock tails on a litter of puppies. The process involves removing a puppy’s tail.
Candace Burneau of St. Margaret’s Bay, N.S. pleaded guilty to the charge of permitting an animal to be in distress on Wednesday.
The court gave her one year to pay a fine of $400.
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According to a press release, the Nova Scotia SPCA opened an investigation into Burneau after they received information that alleged she had someone come to her home to dock the tails of a litter of puppies.
“It is encouraging to see a conviction of an owner who permitted their puppies tails to be docked and it sends a clear message that not only the person committing the act can be held responsible but the owner also,” said Jo-Anne Landsburg, chief provincial inspector of the Nova Scotia SPCA, in a press release. “This case certainly sets a precedent for other tail docking cases in the province.”
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The practice of tail docking has been banned in the province since 2010 as it’s seen as purely a cosmetic procedure.