It is a big victory for animals everywhere, as a Quebec man was sentenced to 6 months in jail for stabbing his two dogs.  Geoffrey LaBerge pleaded guilty to 5 counts of animal cruelty related to the incident which took place in August 2011.  This is the harshest sentence related to animal cruelty the province has ever issued, and comes on the heels of Quebec being described as the province with “the weakest animal protection legislation” in the country according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
One of the dogs, a very sweet 3 year old pug cross sustained such severe injuries his rescuers did not think he would survive.  But after being rushed to a nearby animal hospital he did make a recovery.  Veterinarian Lissa Altschuler said “[He] had a very elevated intercranial pressure. [He] had three distinct stab wounds on the head, and [he] had a very, very low temperature.  I had seen horrific things, but I had never seen such deep stab wounds to such a lovely dog, that did not deserve it, who was cowering in fear. It was just – it was a tragic thing to see… what humans can do to something that innocent.”
Quebec has improved some of their animal protection laws recently by buckling down on criteria for euthanasia and and increasing fines for puppy mills.  It is hoped that this punishment sends a message to everyone that animal cruelty is a serious matter and will not be tolerated.  It is a big show of support to defenceless animals everywhere and a sign that Quebec is very comfortable being seen as not caring about animal rights.  Fortunately both dog did make a survive the traumatic incident and are safe and sound far from their abuser.
