An Alberta woman, involved in what has been called one of the largest animal cruelty cases in Canadian history, has been banned for life from owning dogs.
As reported by the Canadian Press, April Dawn Irving previously pleaded guilty to four counts of causing an animal in distress after police seized 201 dogs from her home near Milk River in 2015.
Initially she faced 14 charges related to animal cruelty, but the majority were dropped after her guilty plea.
The dog owning ban was issued on Wednesday at the Lethbridge provincial court. Irving was also fined more than $15,000. However, Irving doesn’t have to pay the fines because she spent the equivalent of six months in jail before her guilty plea.
Irving allegedly started out with 18 dogs, but neglected to spay or neuter the dogs due to costs. As the pups began to multiply, her lawyer argued that she was unable to find owners and couldn’t afford to feed them.
When police found the dogs, they were dehydrated, starving and chained in the yard. Some were found dead, including one that was discovered on top of a TV.
Irving also has a ban against her in Saskatchewan that states she cannot own more than two dogs at a time if she resides in the province. The ban was issued after police seized 80 dogs from her home, when she lived in that province in 2010.