Charges dropped against former Toronto Humane Society officials

TORONTO – The Crown dropped all charges against former Toronto Humane Society employees, including former president Tim Trow, on Monday citing "serious breaches" of the charter rights of those charged.

The Toronto Humane Society was raided last November after the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) obtained a search warrant under the suspicion that animal cruelty was rampant.

Among the allegations were reports of neglected cats and dogs. A mummified feline was also discovered in the ceiling.

Trow, along with four other senior officials, were charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence of cruelty to animals. They were also charged with obstructing a peace officer.

The Crown now says the charges were dropped because "serious constitutional issues" had rendered the evidence obtained during the investigation inadmissible.

"I can tell you that the decision to withdraw the charges was not made lightly," said Brendan Crawley, spokesman for the attorney general. "Careful and considered review of the file was undertaken by senior Crown counsel in the ministry."

OSPCA chair Rob Godfrey said the dropping of the charges sends a message that protecting animals is not important in Ontario.

"The laws of this province . . . while they may exist on paper, they don’t exist in reality," he told reporters Monday afternoon.

"The truth of the matter is if you want to be cruel to an animal, Ontario is the place to be because there are no laws that will actually speak to protect those who do not have their own voice."

Godfrey said the Crown had not poured over all the evidence available in prosecuting the charges and said many stones were left unturned.

"There were entire lockers full of evidence surrounding the charges of this case that didn’t even get opened," said Godfrey, who called the Crown’s decision "outrageous" and asked Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley to review the matter.

Christine McGoey, the Crown attorney, gave a statement at Old City Hall on Monday morning saying the conviction would not likely hold weight because of breaches to Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Ministry of the Attorney General issued the following reasons for the charter breaches:

Â¥ The length and times permitted by the search warrant

Â¥ The inappropriate use of a Sec. 487 warrant to conduct veterinary checks

Â¥ The over breadth of the items to be seized pursuant to the warrant

Â¥ The over breadth of the seizures themselves, including the lack of any restrictions concerning computer images

Â¥ The use of civilians during the searches, which was not disclosed in the information to obtain the warrant

Â¥ The failure to appropriately address issues of solicitor-client privilege in the course of obtaining and executing the warrant

Â¥ The presence of media at various times during the execution of the search warrant.

Crawley said the reasons behind the dropped charges were articulated to the OSPCA, but Godfrey insists that besides the Nov. 26, 2009 search warrant, further details were not provided.