Vulcan dog breeder suing Alberta SPCA after charges dropped

The lawyer for a Vulcan-area dog breeder previously hit with charges under the Animal Protection Act says his client is suing the Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for damages now that all charges against the man have been dropped.

Last April, Alberta SPCA officers seized 204 animals, including 131 dogs, from a property near Vulcan and charged dog breeder Tyler Marshall with causing or allowing an animal to be in distress and failing to provide proper care for injured or ill animals.

Brendan Miller, a Calgary-based lawyer representing Marshall, says charges against his client have now been dropped.

Miller said Marshall is now suing the ASPCA, claiming his client’s rights were “egregiously violated.”

Miller said Marshall was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for not having proper permits “to have more than three adult dogs on his property in violation of a local bylaw.”

Miller said his client was unaware of the bylaw “and accepts full responsibility for the omission.”

Sixty-seven dogs previously owned by Marshall became the property of the Calgary Humane Society after the seizure, and 62 became the property of the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society.

Some of the dogs taken to the Calgary Humane Society developed a viral infection called parvo. Two were put down, an ASPCA spokesperson said.

Dan Kobe, a spokesperson for the ASPCA, said the organization is “unable to speak about civil suits or the threat of a civil suit,” adding the matter will “have to be dealt with in a court of law, not in the media.”