The Yukon Supreme Court has granted our application to keep Trevor here at the shelter. We will continue providing him with training and exercise under the guidance of Dr. Shelley Breadner, the animal behaviourist who assessed Trevor. We will be able to transfer Trevor to a suitable home once one becomes available.
Thank you to everyone who worked hard to get us through this lengthy court process!
We have kept our costs to a bare minimum, thanks to our volunteers, as well as the support of the Law Line, and the generous donation of time from our lawyer, Carrie Burbidge. Thank you so much, Carrie! We couldn’t have done it without you.
Here is an excerpt from Justice Veale’s judgement:
“I appreciate the weariness of the City with this process but I cannot agree to euthanize the dog when there is a responsible owner, the Humane Society Yukon, prepared to care for the dog with all the safety conditions in place along with the supervision and management of Dr. Breadner. In other words, Trevor will be managed in the interests of public safety, whether or not a suitable foster home is ever found for him. Should a suitable home be found for the dog in the City’s jurisdiction, the City must be notified so that By-Law Services can exercise its mandate under the Animal Control Bylaw, especially as it concerns public safety. Should a suitable home be found for Trevor outside the City, the local authority must consent and the provisions of this Order apply.”
Awesome news indeed! I am once again so overjoyed for Trevor, he's acted like a wonderful dog everytime I meet him, always exited and happy to meet me!
ReplyDeleteHope his training continues to go well and he gets into that forever loving home soon!
My thoughts are with him!!
This is wonderful news about Trevor. I hope that By-law will now comply and make it possible to find him a foster home even if it is outside the city limits and beyond their petty control. I have been reading the court reports, the news reports and the comments and am quite amazed by two things - the completely inaccurate facts that have been allowed in print and the fact that most people are missing the whole point about the Trevor story. Yes it is about a dog who bit someone but all of this mess is also about the misuse of power by By-law. They completely ignored the laws of this city - those which they are supposed to enforce. Makes one wonder what other enforcement happens that is not lawful? Trevor was a completely compliant and gentle dog when he was rescued from abuse with a chain grown into his neck. He only bit someone after he was in the hands of a man who obviously changed the dog's behaviour through aggressive training - and by the way had no legal right to even have the dog. The double standard enforced by By-law is ridiculous. Our neighbour's Great Dane crawled under their fence to randomly attack my husband - biting him many times and only letting go when he punched and kicked the dog many times and I hit him many times with a hose. By-law attended and followed the law. Declared the dog dangerous and imposed conditions that the owners had to follow. (Build a better fence, muzzled while in public and supervised while in the yard.) This dog was not taken away and immediately sentenced to death but given a second chance. Why was the same law and conditions not applied to Trevor? That is the question and personally I don't care if it is costing the city (us) court and legal fees. I am just happy that someone is paying attention and not allowing indiscriminate application of the laws by those who should know better since this is their job.
ReplyDeleteMaureen
Finally, some closure in all this insane mess. Sometimes, our justice sytems gets it right. Bravo! Have a wonderful life Trevor.
ReplyDelete