2 teens charged in connection with cat abuse video shared on Snapchat

Two teens, along with a 20-year-old man, have been charged in connection with a video showing alleged animal abuse that was then shared on Snapchat.

Joshua Lemire has already been charged with one count of causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal.

The two teens, a 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, have now been charged with causing an animal to suffer.

They are not being named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP say all three of the accused have been released on conditions including no contact with the victim or each other, not to consume intoxicating substances and not to possess or have care of any pets or animals.

Reports say the SnapChat video showed a cat drugged, shaved and thrown out a window. The video was then sent via Snapchat to the cat owner’s daughter.

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A vet and the cat’s owner confirm its urine samples tested positive for MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy.

The cat, Gigi, escaped from owner Sharline Haglund’s Duncan home on Monday.

Haglund said her daughter received notifications on her phone from someone who showed pictures and said they had the cat.

“When we got her home, we realized that someone had put ‘666’ in her ear and she had sort of orange spots,” she said.

Share this on X Click to share quote on X: "When we got her home, we realized that someone had put '666' in her ear and she had sort of orange spots," she said.

“Then we had heard they gave her a bleach bath.”

The vet expects Gigi to make a full recovery.

— With files from Neetu Garcha