Sanctuary upset at outcome of animal abuse investigation in Durham

A Toronto area animal sanctuary is sounding off about the lack of information surrounding a recent animal abuse investigation.

The owners of Dog Tales Animal sanctuary claim a Scugog area farm had animals living in deplorable conditions, but the end result was disturbing.

“To me, it’s just a joke,” says Danielle Eden-Scheinberg with the sanctuary.

“They just asked him to fix a few things, case closed? That’s a joke to me.”

The owner is outraged after an investigation by the Ministry of the Solicitor General resulted in a closed case. It was last month when she took a tour of a farm, doing a live video on social media. The images that came out sparked outrage online.

But in an email to Global News, a spokesperson with the ministry said, “Orders were given to the owner, they complied and the case is closed.”

What’s more worrisome to Eden-Scheinberg is it appears no charges were laid, either.

“It was very sad and weird to hear that,” she says. “It just shows me that Ontario animals are not protected.”

She’s been operating Dog Tales Animal Sanctuary for more than five years, with a soft spot for helping animals in need. She says when they took a tour of the farm in question, the environment was disturbing — even finding the remains of dead animals.

“We discovered a field full of bones, cows that were tied up and pigs were living in a filthy area,” says Eden-Scheinberg.

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Now several of those animals have been taken in at the sanctuary, five female pigs and three cows. She alleges one of those cows had a chain embedded into its neck.

Seeing them in that state, Eden-Scheinberg knew she had to do something, so she bought the animals for $5,000.

“At that point, I didn’t care how much it was. I just wanted to get the ones that needed medical attention out of there,” Eden-Scheinberg said.

“They’re doing amazing; they’ve come around. A lot of them are still quite timid, though.”

Those animals are doing better now, with the eight new four-legged additions adjusting to their new home quite nicely. But the Dog Tales co-owner says it’s upsetting to know animals are still vulnerable.

“It’s just sad that so many people do care, but whoever is up there on top do nothing about it.”

The OSPCA, the oversight body that used to investigate animal abuse allegations, stepped back earlier this year. This came after an Ontario judge found it was unconstitutional for the private animal welfare group to enforce animal cruelty laws.

That means the job is left up to the government. It’s the sanctuary co-owner’s hope that with a new program coming in January, things can change.

“They have a huge opportunity to actually get Ontario to lead by example, and it’s not happening.”