Man who taped dog’s muzzle acquitted

But conviction for causing suffering to canine upheld

A Belle River man who served jail time in 2015 for killing a dog by taping its muzzle shut and leaving it tethered to a tree on a choke chain has been acquitted on appeal.

John MacKenzie could not have necessarily known that his actions would lead to the dog’s death, the Ontario Court of Appeal said in a recent decision. But the court did uphold MacKenzie’s conviction for causing unnecessary pain and suffering to a dog.

In April 2012, MacKenzie volunteered to look after a 40-kilogram German shepherd for a friend who was in jail.

Mackenzie, 59, kept the dog tied to a tree at his home on County Road 22.

The dog was on a short leash attached to a choke collar.

The dog was barking and, after it bit him, MacKenzie wrapped electrical tape around the dog’s muzzle. When MacKenzie checked on the animal two hours later, the dog was dead.

A veterinarian testified at MacKenzie’s initial trial in 2014 that the dog died by strangulation.

She said the dog could have become so panicked at having its muzzle taped shut that it struggled on its choke chain until it strangled itself to death.

Ontario court Justice Gregory Campbell ruled that MacKenzie ought to have known that the dog would react the way it did and end up dead. Superior Court Justice Scott Campbell, who heard MacKenzie’s first appeal in 2015, agreed. (The two judges are not related.)

MacKenzie appealed again and won, in part.

“It would be unreasonable to infer that the appellant knew that the dog would likely strangle himself to death if left unattended with tape around his muzzle while tethered to a tree wearing a choke chain,” Justice Janet Simmons said, writing the decision for the Ontario Court of Appeal.

As for MacKenzie’s contention that he should not have been found guilty of “wilfully causing unnecessary pain and suffering to a dog by strangulation and suffocation with tape and a chain,” Simmons said the conviction will stand.

MacKenzie, who served his fourmonth jail sentence in 2015 after losing his first appeal, challenged his convictions on principle, said defence lawyer Frank Miller.

Miller, who represented MacKenzie at his initial trial and at both appeals, said the man was wrongly convicted.

“He wasn’t happy with it. I wasn’t happy with it and, guess what? The Court of Appeal wasn’t happy with it either.”

MacKenzie had been sentenced to four months in jail on each charge, to be served concurrently.

“He served his sentence, so that didn’t matter,” Miller said.

Miller said MacKenzie had hoped the Court of Appeal would overturn both convictions, which would mean he would no longer be on probation or be prohibited from owning a pet for 10 years.

It would be unreasonable to infer that the appellant knew that the dog would likely strangle himself to death …