Judge dismisses Charter challenge

A decision by a Yorkton court judge to dismiss a constitutional challenge in a long-running animal abuse case has paved the way for a trial.

Murray Andres, a farmer from the MacNutt area, stands accused of causing animals to be in distress under the Saskatchewan Animal Protection Act (APA) and failing to provide suitable and adequate food, water, shelter under the Criminal Code of Canada.

The case dates to May 2011 when the Saskatchewan SPCA raided Andres' farm and seized 32 dogs.

In a January voire dire hearing, Judge Darin Chow heard testimony from Kelly Pugh, SPCA manager of animal protective services. In February he accepted submissions from the Crown and defence.

Dwayne Braun, Andres' counsel, argued that the SPCA warrant represented a violation of the defendant's rights to be secure from unreasonable search or seizure and to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The defence also challenged the constitutionality of the APA for being vague in its definition of distress and the Criminal Code for imprecision in what constitutes adequate food, water and shelter.

Andres continues to maintain that his dogs were in "good shape" and Pugh's description of the conditions on his farm as "appalling" was inaccurate.

The judge dealt first with the search warrant citing a Supreme Court decision that puts the onus on the applicant seeking to deem a warrant unconstitutional to prove it is deficient or misleading in some way.

Chow said the defence had "failed to draw attention to any evidence" that this was true in the case before the Court.

Turning to the argument of vagueness in the APA and Criminal Code, the judge referred to several pieces of case law in determining that "perfect clarity need not be required" in the definitions in question.

Furthermore, he said he was satisfied based on a review of precedents that the provincial Court lacks jurisdiction to rule on the general validity of the APA or Criminal Code.

He said he saw no violation of Andres' Charter rights and no basis or foundation that existing legislation was unconstitutional.

"The application is dismissed in its entirety," he concluded.

A new hearing was scheduled for yesterday to set a trial date.