A St. Thomas man who abandoned two dogs and a cat in a sweltering apartment with no food or water was sentenced to four months in jail Tuesday afternoon.
In addition, 20-year-old Cody Yeo was slapped with a 10-year prohibition on owning any animal.
In sentencing Yeo, Justice Marietta Roberts – who was handed “graphic” photographs of the squalid apartment unit and the two dead dogs – said she hoped the jail time would act as a deterrent, adding “this is the most appropriate sentence to take you out of the community.”
St. Thomas animal welfare activist Lois Jackson called the term of incarceration “reassuring.”
Yeo – who sobbed quietly during the proceedings at the Elgin County Courthouse – and his common-law partner Payton Garner had each been charged with three counts of causing injury to an animal and one count of mischief under $5,000 as a result of damage to the apartment at 104 Confederation Drive.
On Aug. 19, the property manager entered the fourth floor unit after receiving complaints of a strong odor. She was greeted by “an extreme odor of decay” and the unit in complete disarray.
She then discovered a malnourished cat in distress with no food or water and a dead dog in each of the two bedrooms.
The body of a small, mixed-breed dog was found on a child’s bed with no food or water and the floor covered in feces.
The body of a larger, mixed-breed dog was on the bed in the second bedroom, again with no food or water, and a feces-covered floor.
All indications were the animals had been there for some time.
Police were called, the apartment was secured and the carcasses removed.
The property manager told police the couple were behind in rent but had not been evicted.
The apartment owners, Skyline Living, indicated the bill for cleanup and restoration of the unit amounted to $4,298.
Defence lawyer Bevan Earhart said his client had no stable family relationship as a youngster and became a ward of the Crown at the age of 17.
Earhart indicted he has known Yeo for some time and after his release from Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre in 2015, he was attempting to turn his life around.
“This is not the same Cody Yeo I dealt with as a youth,” stressed Earhart. He added Yeo had admitted, “as a teenager I was a real asshole.”
He portrayed Yeo as stepping into the role of a father for Garner’s four-year-old son.
While not condoning Yeo’s actions, Earhart pointed out he did not actively torture the animals, it was a case of neglect.
He said the couple had been living in squalor and fallen behind in their rent. Some time previous, Garner moved out of the unit to live with her mother.
Yeo assured her he had taken care of the animals, giving them to friends.
With little money, Yeo said he could not afford to take the animals to a vet or have them removed by animal control.
He insisted he visited the apartment on a regular basis to check on the welfare of the animals, but as the Crown noted, he used the back door so he would not be caught coming and going on a surveillance camera.
Earhart sought a three-month intermittent sentence or four to six month conditional sentence with a two-year animal prohibition.
He did acknowledge the drawn-out suffering of the animals and the need to send a strong message that abuse of animals should not be tolerated.
The Crown asked for four months custody, 12 to 18 months probation and a 10-year prohibition, in addition to 50 hours of community service and restitution of the almost $5,000 cleaning bill, noting an intermittent sentence would “send the wrong message.”
In her remarks, Justice Roberts noted the sentence would have been longer except for Yeo’s guilty plea.
She set probation at one year, felt community service was not appropriate and argued financial restitution for cleanup was up to the apartment owners to pursue.
The charges against Garner were dropped by the Crown after determining she was unaware of the fate of the animals.
Lois Jackson
While the sentence will not bring the dogs back said Jackson, owner of All Breed Canine Rescue and chair of the city’s animal welfare committee, Justice Roberts “certainly wasn’t lenient” in handing down a four-month sentence.
“It does send a message,” Jackson continued, “there are judges and communities that take these things seriously. We’re really, really pleased that it was taken seriously. These cases are unbelievably sad and horrible. I was so worried it would be a slap on the wrist. This sends a message to the community that we care. It’s also a message from the authorities that they take it seriously. And they are prepared to act on it. It’s reassuring.”
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Very well Done the Crown Attorney deserves a BIG THANK YOU…Covered the story perfectly……..
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Our outrage at the fate of the animals seems to have blinded us to the human tragedy exposed by this case. We are unable to appreciate the consequences of our own actions. The story in the background is of a teenaged boy who was made a ward of the crown and by the age of 20 is living in squalor, unable to pay his rent, and reduced by fear to sneaking into his home. Such social outcasts are easy targets for political activists and ambitious judges. Yes, he deserved to be punished, but I would argue that community service designed to make him a part of the whole and share in the responsibility for his actions should have been considered. As it is we are left with a system that treats people no better than Yeo treated his pets. Ironically, the jail term will actually see the offender’s standard of living raised and probably increase the likelihood of further crimes. This is a very sad story in which a lack of courage and foresight ensures will we will see an even sadder ending.
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If you want to blame the system ,get over it. This man is responsible for the horrific deaths of three animals. If you get a pet, think of the long term commitment to this pet.Your looking at years of providing food, vet bills and love. If you can afford this don’t get one.
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