ANIMAL ABUSE
Humane Society discusses record sentence
There was little solace for animal rights advocates after a Calgary man who neglected, tortured and killed a cat and dog last year was handed the longest sentence ever meted out in Alberta for animal cruelty on Friday.
All had hoped for something longer than the 22 months behind bars and three years of probation that provincial court Judge George Gaschler dealt to 19-year-old Nicolino Camardi.
Crown prosecutor Gord Haight had sought a jail term of up to three years.
“I would like to have seen something on the higher end,” Brad Nichols, manager of cruelty investigations for Calgary Humane Society, said outside court.
“This was one of the most severe cases, in that it was very intentional, it was very cruel, like the judge said it wasn’t a momentary lapse of judgment, a fit of rage, it happened over several months. This was someone we were glad to charge and prosecute. Hopefully, there’s enough oversight to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Nichols was especially pleased with the lifetime ban against Camardi on possession or owning of animals, calling it the “highlight” of the sentence.
Gaschler said that the gravity of Camardi’s offence was very high.
“The prolonged abuse, neglect and wilful infliction of suffering causing the death of both animals calls for a custodial sentence at the high end of the range of sentence,” Gaschler said.
The judge also gave Camardi credit for 16 months already spent in custody, leaving him with six months to serve.
Defence lawyer Jack Kelly had argued for a sentence of 18 months, less time served.
The judge also ordered Camardi to attend the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre as directed and comply with counselling and treatment as recommended, including assessment and counselling for alcohol and drug addictions, anger and aggression management.
Haight said that, while it wasn’t the harsh penalty he was seeking, to his knowledge it’s still the most anyone has ever received in this province for animal cruelty.
“I think the public should realize this sentence was over 3 1/2 times greater than the previous allowable maximum (six months) in 2008,” Haight said.
“The facts demanded it. This is certainly the most serious case of animal cruelty that I’ve ever prosecuted.”
Haight said it was a significant breach of trust, as people gave up the animals believing they’d get a good home.
Nichols agreed the public would be appalled.
“It’s a person’s worst nightmare when they put an animal on Kijiji and they find out what happened ... that it came back to haunt them,” said Nichols.
Camardi apologized to the court and the public earlier this week for his actions.
Heather Anderson, founder of Delegates Against Inhumane Suffering Y (DAISY), said outside court she was disappointed with the sentence.
“I’m not very happy,” she said outside court. “We really hoped we were going to have something really good this time. The amount of time given doesn’t give enough time to deal with his drug abuse and everything.”
Camardi pleaded guilty in December to two counts of cruelty to animals.
An agreed statement of facts said he physically abused the dog numerous times in the basement of his residence and deprived it of food and water.
Because both Camardi and his girlfriend were addicted to crack cocaine, most of their money went to feeding their drug addictions and there was often no money for dog food. A few days before the dog died, the accused taped the dog’s muzzle shut.
When Camardi discovered the dog was dead, he dumped the body into an alley near his residence in Willow Park. A neighbour discovered it and called authorities.
The Calgary Humane Society determined the cause of death to be starvation.
As well, Camardi physically abused a cat numerous times before strangling the cat and dumping its body in an alley.
Court heard the cat suffered multiple injuries to the head, tail and limbs, and was significantly underweight.