A Durham police officer who removed a kitten from a suspected drug user’s home had her discreditable conduct charge substituted for less severe charges following an intervention from an animal activist group.
Durham Regional Police Const. Beth Richardson was greeted with a show of support from animal rights activists outside a disciplinary hearing in Whitby on Wednesday.
Richardson landed in hot water following the incident on Jan. 12, 2016 and was charged in connection with discreditable conduct in May.
On that day in January, Richardson was dispatched to an Oshawa home to check on a woman in medical distress “who had been using drugs for several days,” according to a hearing notice obtained by CP24.
Once inside, Richardson spotted a kitten “cowering under a table” and believed that the small animal was not being properly cared for.
According to Richardson’s lawyer Joseph Markson, the kitten “looked like it hadn’t been fed.”
Richardson ultimately took the kitten from the home without permission from its owners.
The owners of the kitten eventually called Durham Regional Police’s communications center demanding it be returned. The hearing notice states the owners initially wanted to press charges against Richardson but annulled those demands once the kitten was returned safely the same night.
Const. Richardson did not notify her superiors “or any other officers” of the incident “nor did she document it,” the notice states.
At the police tribunal disciplinary hearing Wednesday, animal rights group Animal Justice applied for intervenor status at the hearing – where a court can decide to allow a nonparty the right to participate in proceedings or provide comment on the issues at hand -- citing that a police officer ‘should not be punished for doing the right thing.’
The group greeted Richardson with signs that read “Thank You Constable Richardson” and “Compassion is not a crime” as she approached the building.
When asked how she felt about the supporters, Richardson simply said “thank you.”
Camille Labchuk, the executive director of Animal Justice, told CTV News Toronto outside the hearing that a kitten “cannot be treated like another piece of property.”
Midway through Wednesday’s proceedings, the prosecution and Animal Justice came to an agreed statement of facts that ultimately no longer upheld the “removal of an animal in distress” as discreditable conduct.
“In fact,” the statement reads, “the prosecution’s position is that police officers are required to preserve all life, including animals.”
“This is an important precedent that the police have recognized. Their duty to protect all life extends to animals. That’s very important,” Labchuk said once the hearing finished.
The new charges include failure to speak with the owners before taking the cat, failure to inform her supervisors of the incident, failure to take notes regarding the removal of the kitten, and failure to inform the appropriate agency of the kitten.
Speaking to reporters outside the hearing Wednesday, Markson said the new agreed statement of facts change the case “fundamentally” as it focuses more on “procedural errors and omissions in the aftermath of her good decision to remove the kitten.”
“It changes the kind of case I’m defending,” Markson said. “She’s charged with removing the kitten without the knowledges of the owner or consent. That’s not what I was hearing being alleged against my client today from the prosecution. That’s a very different kind of case, to me.”
“If you look at the wording and the count, it would be all about removing the kitten from the residence which my client stands by as being the right thing to do.”
Despite the change in course, Markson said the prosecution’s recognition of Richardson’s requirement to “preserve all life” is a step in the right direction.
“I view that as a very good admission from the prosecution that they acknowledge that the decision to remove has merit and is consistent with her duties as a police officer,” he said. “That’s the way I view it.”
Markson previously told CTV News Toronto that his client is allergic to cats and only removed the kitten so it could receive medical attention.
The hearing notice indicates Richardson could be demoted if convicted.
The disciplinary hearing has been put over until Feb. 7 and is scheduled to take three days.
With files from Sean Leathong
