December pretrial for animal cruelty case

A pretrial date was set Thursday for a woman facing more than 30 charges of animal cruelty.

Sandra Reed-Byers (formerly Sandra Reed) will go before the courts for a pretrial on Dec. 11.

The OSPCA charged her with 33 counts of animal cruelty in June, after an investigation that led to the removal of a horse, goat, three dogs and 22 sheep that were emaciated.

The charges were laid under provincial law.

A second date of Dec. 20 was also set Thursday to discuss the outcome of the pretrial, which could result in a plea or see the case move forward to a trial.

The case has already been before the courts on several occasions, but Reed-Byers hasn’t attended any of the proceedings.

She’s represented by local lawyer Dave McFadden.

Reed-Byers, 56, made headlines in 2016 when she was accused of starving horses to death on her property.

At the time, Reed-Byers operated Whisper Ridge Ranch, which she called a horse sanctuary.

She was investigated by the OSPCA, but no charges were laid. An official with the OSPCA confirmed Reed-Byers had been investigated by the animal welfare organization in the past as well.

Reed-Byers is also facing criminal charges of mischief and failure to comply.

The mischief charge stems from her dealings with the Ellis family, who share a rented property with Reed-Byers.

The farmland is off Highway 7 toward Norwood. Renee Ellis and her family live in the house on the property and Reed-Byers lives in an apartment in the barn.

After the Ellises confronted Reed-Byers with concerns about her animals, Reed-Byers allegedly began harassing the family.

When she allegedly neglected to follow the conditions imposed after her mischief charge, she was charged with failure to comply.

Both the provincial charges and the criminal charges are dealt with in Peterborough’s Ontario Court of Justice but are handled separately.

Reed-Byers is back before the court for her criminal charges on Nov. 27.