Calgary Woman who abused Chihuahua gets 60-day jail sentence

A Calgary woman has been sentenced to jail time for abusing her pet Chihuahua.

The Calgary Humane Society says 52-year-old Valerie Penny will spend 60-days behind bars and will serve a six-month probation.

She was found guilty on Tuesday of inflicting unnecessary pain and injury for hurling her Chihuahua-Dachshund ‘Chewy’ off her second-floor balcony of her southeast home onto a fence, said Calgary Humane Society investigations Manager Brad Nichols.

“She then tossed the dog a second time, over the fence,” said Nichols.

A witness spotted Penny throw a then-10-year-old Chewy, after he’d defecated on her floor and furniture.

Nichols said he welcomed the jail sentence, saying it appears to be part of a recently harder line against animal neglect and injury.

“It’s fairly rare — we only look at criminal code with very severe, prolonged neglect and we’re seeing more consistent sentences,” said Nichols who called the act “a violent crime” and “purposeful”.

“We’re certainly seeing higher fines and longer prohibitions — we’ve already had four or five lifetimes prohibitions this year, which is unheard of.”

He said such abuse often stems from pet behaviour, but added it’s no excuse for such actions.

Chewy has fully recovered from soft tissue injuries to a front leg, said Nichols, and has been adopted out to a caring master.

“He’s getting the loving home he didn’t get during his first shot,” he said.

After a stay with a rescue society, he was adopted by Calgarian Sylvia Sten.

“When I got him, he was happy and doing really well, he was open to meeting some new people at that time,” said Sten.

Sten said she hopes the sentence handed down to Penny “will show there are consequences and hopefully it’ll prevent other people from abusing animals.”

Agencies/Canadajournal