The girlfriend of a Kamloops man accused of strangling his cat to death last year testified Tuesday the animal had been peeing and defecating all over their apartment.
Moriah Smith told B.C. provincial court she and partner Steven Seidel were struggling financially and expecting a newborn when their cat Oreo started acting out.
She said the pet was urinating everywhere, including on baby supplies they were accumulating in the house.
“We couldn’t have that,” Smith said. “It wasn’t healthy for me and it wasn’t healthy for the baby.”
The couple considered handing the cat over to the SPCA but was told the organization would charge them to either euthanize Oreo or put him up for adoption.
Smith testified that she was at a doctor’s appointment in March 2013 when Seidel called and told her he’d killed the cat and put it in a dumpster.
He is charged under both the Criminal Code and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. If convicted, Seidel could face jail time and fines in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Long before the trial began, animal advocates were voicing concerns about a potentially lenient sentence in the case. Leanne Pentney said courts have failed to send a serious message in sentencing previous cruelty cases.
“It’s a slap on the wrist,” Pentney said. “People can walk away, they’ll give you a little fine.”
An online petition calling for Crown to recommend the maximum allowable sentence was signed more than 32,000 times as of Tuesday.
Crown has said it will call for jail time, as well as a lengthy ban on owning animals.
The defence said it won’t argue Seidel didn’t kill the cat but will ask for leniency under the circumstances.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Kent Molgat
