WESTLOCK – A Westlock woman whose dog was one of two that got into her neighbour’s rabbit hutch and killed five of them in September 2022, faces close to $2,500 in fines and restitution.
Following a 90-minute trial in Westlock Court of Justice Aug. 2, Nettie Rose Bolton was found guilty by Justice Thomas Achtymichuk of contravening Town of Westlock bylaw WES/2015-11, 5.5(B), which is a charge of owning a dog that kills another animal, and WES/2015-11, 5.1, which is a charge of owning a dog at large. Justice Achtymichuk did find Bolton, who was self-represented, not guilty of interfering/impeding a bylaw officer as per WES/2015-11, 5.11 and agreed that she had the right to ask the officer to get a search warrant to come on to her property.
Justice Achtymichuk fined Bolton $2,075 on the two tickets — WES/2015-11, 5.5(B) carries a $2,000 fine, while the dog at large is $75 — and ordered her to pay $300 in restitution to the owner of the rabbits. While the town’s lawyer Brant C. De Rudder, who had called the owner of the rabbits, the town’s peace officer and a local vet to testify, had asked that Bolton also pay the additional vet costs, Justice Achtymichuk did not agree stating it wasn’t covered under the town’s bylaw or the Municipal Government Act — De Rudder had initially asked for fines totalling $4,150.
“I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Bolton was one of the owners of one of the dogs that was found in the rabbit hutch. And I am satisfied by the evidence that the only rational conclusion on all of the evidence is that those two dogs got into the rabbit hutch and killed the rabbits. It’s supported by all of the testimony and photo evidence,” said Justice Achtymichuk. “Any other cause for the death of rabbits that was suggested is in my view, is not a rational conclusion. There’s no doubt in my mind about that at all.”
Speaking to Bolton, whose dog was impounded and never reclaimed, Justice Achtymichuk told her that he appreciated, “ … the attachment you had to your dog, but by the same token your neighbour lost five animals and very well may have had the same or greater attachment to them.” Bolton, who’s dog was licensed by the town, has until March 31, 2024, to pay the fines but can apply in writing to get an extension if she needs it.
“This is not a minor thing,” said Justice Achtymichuk, who ordered the Bolton pay the $300 in restitution directly to town, who will then turn it over to the owner of the rabbits.
The incident
Court heard that on Sept. 16, 2022, Bolton’s neighbour returned to his 104A Avenue home from a day of work to find two dogs inside the rabbit hutch in his backyard. The dogs were trapped within the two-level hutch as part of it had collapsed and he saw that four of his five rabbits were dead.
The man left the dogs, who were barking and aggressive, in the hutch overnight, then phoned the town’s community peace officer and the RCMP the following day, who then contacted Bolton who came across the street and claimed them. The man eventually found the fifth rabbit dead, while the other dog belonged to Bolton’s then-boyfriend.
On Sept. 19, 2022, the town’s community peace officer Randy Burgess followed up with the owner of the rabbits and viewed the hutches and photos of the dogs in them, then took two dead rabbits to the Westlock vet clinic for an autopsy that confirmed they had been killed by “dog-type injuries.”
Later the same day Burgess went to Bolton’s residence as there had “been several offences” leading up to this event and tried to seize the dog.
Bolton refused and told Burgess if he wanted to take the animal, he’d need to get a search warrant, which he eventually got and executed on Sept. 30. The dog, which was subsequently deemed dangerous via a November 2022 court order, was taken to the Morinville vet clinic and they assessed that it could be re-homed but was aggressive with small animals. Bolton told court that she hadn’t claimed the animal as she said she never received a copy of the dangerous dog order.
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