Photo provided by National Geographic
“An Ottawa man is charged with torturing and killing a mother racoon and her baby in a days-long ordeal, the Ottawa Humane Society said Monday.
“We needed to do a postmortem on the raccoons and those indicated there were multiple wounds before the animals were killed,” said Bruce Roney, executive director of the OHS, explaining why it took from the June 11 discovery of the animals’ bodies until late August to press charges.
The man is alleged to have tortured and killed the pair after trapping the mother raccoon June 10. The examination found that both animals were alive while they were beaten.
“We see a lot of terrible things. I’ve been here 24 years and this was just horrific,” said Ottawa humane Society inspector Miriam Smith. When OHS was called to Armstrong’s home in Ottawa south by neighbours who saw the mother trapped in a cage for two days, they discovered a grisly sight. The mother raccoon was found with a barbecue rotisserie rod skewered through its mouth and out the back of its head. And the baby’s body was discovered nearby beaten to death with a hammer.
“This is certainly in the top five worst cases I’ve seen,” said Roney, who has been with OHS for 13 years and was at a loss to explain why the animals had been trapped and tortured.
Roney added that by law, wildlife that is trapped can only be moved one kilometre from the trap site.
“If there is a conflict with wildlife, people need to deal with how they’re getting into the house,” he said. “It’s about wildlife-proofing your house or garbage can. There are products available,” he urged.
Forty-nine-year old Gregory Armstrong faces two counts of causing unnecessary pain, suffering and injury to an animal. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a lifetime ban on owning animals if convicted.”
“Footloose Montana” adds, “People that abuse animals are a threat to society. Trapping legally allows and perpetuates that threat. Trapped animals experience suffering and are offered no protection in the manner in which they are treated and killed. Because of the photograph, Footloose Montana posted that went viral, of the disrespectful and inhumane treatment of a trapped wolf, Montana requires the immediate killing of trapped wolves. The killing method now for trapped wolves must be by gunshot to eliminate the choking to death some trappers obviously were choosing. Montana Trappers Association rep said, “Some trappers don’t own a gun.”
**Special thanks to Graham Lanktree of Metro Ottawa, http://metronews.ca/news/ottawa/777287/man-charged-with-torturing-killing-mother-and-baby-raccoons/, for providing this information!
The Wolf Preservation Blog 