Tickets issued by Athabasca County to Sammyís Pet Boarding and the Second Chance Animal Rescue Society (SCARS) for excessive barking and howling have both been scrapped.
Both $100 tickets, issued in December of 2012, were spoken to briefly in Athabasca Provincial Court on Feb. 25.
The ticket against Sammyís Pet Boarding was quashed due to a clerical error, according to defense attorney Kent A. Nelson.
Nelson explained that Sammyís Pet Boarding, owned and operated by Vicki Stafford, is the name given to the kennel by the operators but is not a ìlegal entity,î and could not be charged as such.
ìThe issue there is the charge was made against Sammyís Pet Boarding. ëSammyís Pet Boardingí is just a name, itís not a legal entity. So thatís a fatal error,î said Nelson.
ìYou have to charge an actual entity, and so they would have to have charged Vicki Stafford, not the name of her operation,î he explained.
The county acknowledged it was aware the charge was quashed but was unaware it was due to a clerical error.
ìWe have not heard that (it was due to a clerical error), and we are trying to figure out what the reasoning was,î said Athabasca County manager Gary Buchanan.
Stafford confirmed her court date was set for Feb. 25, but that her fine ìwas quashed before it even got to court.î
ìIím hoping itís done with, Iím hoping this is the last we hear of this,î said Stafford.
ìIím disappointed that the councillors unwisely spent so many taxpayersí dollars on this issue.î
Meanwhile, Alberta Justice confirmed Monday that the $100 ticket issued to SCARS was dismissed Feb. 25 after no one appeared in court to speak to it.
Sylvia Christiansen, co-founder of Second Chance Animal Rescue Society, said she was unaware that the ticket had been dismissed.
Christiansen said SCARS had submitted a not guilty plea by mail and were awaiting notification of a trial date.
ìI donít know why it was dismissed,î she said. ìI donít know why they would go through the process of issuing tickets and, (after) all the complaining about SCARS, not to show up.
ìThat just seems Ö I donít quite understand the reasoning for that,î said Christiansen.
Asked if she is glad the charge was dismissed, Christiansen said, ìYes and no. Yes, if it means the end to this long, drawn-out battle; but Ö I donít know if theyíre going to issue more tickets, or what.
ìI donít know. Iím a little confused on the whole process,î she said. ìI donít know why they would issue a ticket and not follow through with it. Thatís confusing to me.
ìWe (were) prepared to fight it, and we (were) prepared to go to court,î Christiansen noted.
Sammyís Pet Boarding and SCARS were both issued $100 tickets under the countyís dog bylaw that seeks to ìprovide for the regulating, controlling and confinement of dogs.î
Both were charged with allowing their dogs ìto be or become a public nuisance by Ö barking, howling excessively, or otherwise disturbing the peace of any person.î
