File photo

File photo

Trial date moved for convicted animal abuser Catherine Adams

Adams will now be facing her breach of probation charges in court on May 16

  • Jan. 16, 2019 12:00 a.m.

Convicted animal abuser Catherine Jessica Adams will be back in Quesnel Court on May 16 to face her breach of probation charge.

Catherine — along with her mother Karin Adams — had 16 dogs seized from a property in Quesnel in June 2018, after an SPCA investigation found the dogs were being kept in crates too small for their size in a poorly ventilated area with little or no access to water and with feces- and urine-soaked matting.

Adams appeared at the Quesnel Law Courts on Jan. 15 to set the trial date. Adams was previously set to go to court on Dec. 10, 2018.

She was charged with breaching her probation order on June 29, 2018, according to files accessed via B.C. Court Services Online.

The probation order prohibited her from owning or having custody of an animal.

WATCH: Quesnel hosts rally against convicted animal abusers

The probation order was a condition of Catherine’s 2015 sentencing in Smithers Provincial Court, where she was found guilty of causing unnecessary pain/suffering to an animal and causing/permitting the animal to be in distress.

Emaciation, poor living conditions, parasite infestation, lack of food, water and medical treatment were among the conditions affecting some of the dogs and horses in Catherine and Karin’s care at the time.

READ MORE: SPCA seizes 16 dogs from property in Quesnel

In early November, Catherine was sentenced to 90 days in jail after she was convicted of animal cruelty charges in Drumheller, Alta.

Catherine and her mother were charged after police found 11 horses, 25 dogs and 17 birds in distress at their home near the village of Hanna, northeast of Calgary, in 2015.

READ MORE: Former B.C. woman gets 90 days in jail for latest animal cruelty

Karin Adams was also charged with impersonating a peace officer and mischief relating to interfering with property in Innisfail, Alta., after she was found with eight dogs in terrible condition in a hotel room in July, just weeks after having 16 dogs seized from her property in Quesnel. She has not yet gone to trial.

READ MORE: Dog hoarder charged in Alberta weeks after pet seizure in Quesnel

Karin was also found guilty in Smithers in 2015 of causing or permitting an animal to be in distress.

The SPCA said in July it would be recommending new charges of animal cruelty for both women due to the Quesnel incident, although charges have not yet been laid.

With files from Melanie Law and Laura Baziuk


heather.norman@quesnelobserver.comLike us on Facebook

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