Vet guilty of animal mistreatment surrenders dogs

An Edmonton veterinarian convicted of mistreating two of his own dogs that he kept in his northeast clinic surrendered the animals to the City of Edmonton on Friday.

The two dogs — a black Labrador retriever named Heza and a brindle Staffordshire terrier named Tiggor — were seized by bylaw officers who arrived at Jun Yang’s clinic in April 2016 to investigate allegations of mistreatment.

Yang was arrested and charged in June 2016 with wilfully causing unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal. He also faced three charges under the Animal Protection Act, including causing an animal to be in distress, failing to ensure an animal has adequate food and water, and for failing to provide animals with adequate shelter, ventilation and space.

On Monday, Yang was convicted of all charges by provincial court Judge Ferne LeReverend.

During the trial, court heard testimony from a number of Yang’s former employees who gave evidence about the dogs being confined together for long hours in a kennel meant for only one animal, having food and water limited, and testimony that Yang hit the dogs.

The day after he was convicted, the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association suspended Yang.

The fate of the two dogs, housed at the city’s Animal Care and Control Centre since the seizure, will now be left up to the City of Edmonton, Crown prosecutor Christian Lim said during a brief hearing on Friday morning.

A pre-sentence report has been ordered at the request of the defence. Yang is expected to be sentenced on Sept. 15.

Tiggor, a female Staffordshire terrier, is one of two dogs owned and abused by Edmonton veterinarian Jun Yang. The dogs were surrendered to the City of Edmonton Friday after Yang was convicted Monday of mistreating them.