Man beat 5 Pomeranian puppies to death with hammer and is ACQUITTED!

Keith Barton, 73,  killed five Pomeranian puppies with a hammer because he did not want the SPCA officers to seize them.  The SPCA went to his house to seize his thirteen dogs.  He would rather these five be dead than held at the city shelter while he straightened things out?  I mean, the city shelter might have killed them too but at least it would have been more humane than getting their head smashed in with a hammer!

Keith Barton had applied for a licence for Pet Me Kennel, said animal protection officer David Lynch, and a follow-up inspection was being conducted after he had been told to clean up the property.  The SPCA officials and the animal control officer found that his property still did not meet kennel standards and proceeded to seize the dogs.

Barton was playing with the dogs in the yard as the 11 Pomeranians began to be seized, Lynch said. The protection officer said he noticed Barton takings dogs into a shed and thought he was looking for privacy to say goodbye to the animals.

"When he came out of the shed, he put on a coat. He sat on a chair on his back step, and he never said a word ," Lynch said. "I went into the shed to take the animals, and that's when I discovered that … they were dead."

Five of the dogs inside the shed were dead and one was seriously injured, Lynch said.

Judge Patricia Cumming must be mentally impaired because she said there was evidence that the the dog were "rendered unconscious" when they were hit and did not suffer when he was bashing their heads in with a hammer.  What about the first strike that (supposedly) caused them to lose consciousness?

She did feel that one dog, Jake, who survived, did feel pain.  She found him guilty of injuring the dog.  

Barton told the court, in November, he thought he had the right to kill his dogs and he didn't want the SPCA to take his dogs. He testified that he couldn't let the seizure happen because he "loved the dogs so desperately."

When Barton also testified he described the day he killed his dogs as "the worst day of my life, when I had to do that to my babies."

Barton said he would have killed all of the dogs if he had more time.

The Minto man said he thought he had a right to put his dogs down but a provincial veterinary pathologist said Barton's tactics were not an acceptable method of euthanasia for dogs.

The vet said it would have taken three to five minutes for the dogs to die.

Not only did he kill these puppies, he also neglected them while they were alive.  He was charged with three counts of failing to give proper care to his thirteen Pomeranians.  Why only three counts if there were thirteen Pomeranians?  The Judge only fined him the minimum of about $120 on each case.

The judge gave him a conditional discharge, with the condition that he cannot own a dog or pet for the next 12 months.  

This is an extremely violent act and at the end of this, we have five dead puppies, a $360 fine for not providing water to three of the thirteen dogs, the condition that he cannot own any animals for twelve months, and he was found guilty of injuring an animal (the one who survived).  What about the ones he KILLED?  Do they not deserve justice!?


Sources:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/11/28/nb-defence-dogs.html

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/03/07/dogs-killed.html

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/02/03/nb-dogs-barton.html?ref=rss