Mastiff breeder charged with abuse says he’ll be vindicated
SASKATOON A Saskatchewan man is facing animal cruelty charges on allegations he permitted unnecessary suffering to dogs by failing to provide adequate food, water, shelter or care.
An RCMP constable and staff from Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan (APSS) took 12 dogs on June 29 from Mark Fischer’s property near Endeavour, where he operates a dog breeding business called Serpentine Mastiffs. Endeavour, just north of Preeceville, is approximately 325 kilometres east of Saskatoon.
Fischer said the charges are unfounded and he expects to be vindicated when the matter goes to trial next year.
“I’m not some monster with a puppy mill. I’m a beautiful person,” Fischer said in a telephone interview Thursday. Dogs could be heard barking and yelping in the background.
Fischer said the RCMP placed him in a locked cruiser on a hot day and left him there for over five hours without water or food, while they went through his property and house — he said they didn’t have a warrant — eventually taking his three-year-old alpha male, Whoofy, and 11 other mastiffs including juveniles and puppies.
He said he doesn’t know where the dogs ended up but he believes Whoofy was euthanized. That dog had a leg injury that had been seen by a veterinarian and was being cared for, Fischer said.
“There’s a bond that is created, especially when a puppy is born and lives its entire life with me .... He’s my friend, he’s my baby.
“The worst part is the distress they caused that dog to be torn away from his family ... all he’s ever known,” Fischer said.
The other dogs had dermatitis, which he was treating, Fischer said.
APSS executive director Kaley Pugh wrote in an email that “there have been several visits by animal protection officers and a veterinarian, and that dogs were seized from the premise on one occasion because the vet felt they were in distress.”
Fischer acknowledged APSS has visited his rural property more than once. He said that in the past, his premises were satisfactory and the notice showed there was plenty of food in the freezer and dried food in bags for 52 dogs on the property.
Fischer has applied for a court ordered publication ban to protect his reputation as a dog breeder. That matter is scheduled for Feb 15, in Canora.