Crown seeks jail term for Alberta animal abuser

An Alberta judge denied a request from the accused in an animal torture case to change his plea, paving the way for a sentencing date more than two years after the incident.

Daniel Haskett, 20, had pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and obstruction of justice, but asked to change that to not guilty.

He told the court in July that he lied when he admitted to dragging the family dog behind a vehicle, because he wanted the matter to be concluded and for people to stop harassing him.

On Tuesday, a provincial court judge in Didsbury, about 80 kilometres north of Calgary, denied Haskett's application, which means his guilty plea still stands.

In October 2006, a 17-year-old friend accidentally ran over the Haskett family's dog, Daisy Duke, a lab-border collie cross.

The teen has already been sentenced to house arrest in what his lawyer has called a "poorly thought-out euthanasia attempt."

The court has heard that the dog had a plastic bag taped over its head, was dragged behind a vehicle and hit over the head with a shovel. The animal, with her muzzle and all four legs duct-taped, was found so severely injured that a veterinarian had to euthanize her.

'We were really hoping for a verdict today, so we're very disappointed and I've never seen such a farce of a trial in my life to tell you the truth.' —Heather Anderson, animal activist

In sentencing arguments on Tuesday, the Crown asked that Haskett be sentenced to jail for three to five months and be banned from owning a pet for two years. The maximum sentence is six months in jail or a $2,000 fine.

Haskett's lawyer asked for a conditional sentence with no jail time.

Haskett is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17.

Heather Anderson, who started a petition to change Canada's animal cruelty laws, was disappointed that the case, which has divided the town as it inched through the court system over the last two years, was not concluded Tuesday.

"It's ridiculous. We were really hoping for a verdict today, so we're very disappointed, and I've never seen such a farce of a trial in my life to tell you the truth. It's just unbelievable," she said.

Haskett has been the target for many angry protesters; at his first court appearance, a crowd surrounded him as he got into a minivan and then kicked and pounded on the vehicle.

In June, a protester yelled obscenities at him and his mother as the RCMP escorted them out of the courthouse.