WHATI/LAC LA MARTRE - Whati resident Anthony Bishop was sentenced to three years probation Thursday after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary pain and suffering to animals, a charge laid last November when RCMP officers found dead and abused dogs on Bishop's property.

Yuki, the first dog found at Anthony Bishop's home. Yuki's mother and three siblings were found dead. - NNSL file photo

As part of Bishop's probation, Judge Bernadette Schmaltz ordered him to keep the peace, be of good behaviour and attend any programs or counselling recommended to him by his probation officer.

In addition, he is prohibited from owning, living with or being in care of animals and birds for three years.

Cpl. Jeremie Landry of the Whati RCMP, who first went to Bishop's residence Nov. 22, said he found a mother dog, as well as four of her puppies, out in the cold.

Bishop had left the mother alone in his yard to give birth. Landry found her and three of the four puppies dead.

Landry took the surviving puppy home and fed it milk from a syringe throughout the night. In the morning, the puppy was flown to Yellowknife's Great Slave Animal Hospital.

"When he came in (to the hospital) most of his nose was just gone from frostbite. I can only explain it as it looked like somebody had just ripped it off," said Nicole Spencer, president of the NWT SPCA in Yellowknife. "He was tiny. His eyes weren't even open. He was only three days old."

Landry returned to Bishop's house Nov. 24 on an unrelated matter and found four more grown dogs in his yard, which he said were clearly being neglected as well.

One dog was tied up to a snowmobile in the yard with a six-inch wire that was preventing it from moving. The rest were on leashes not long enough to let them access their dog houses.

"They were very skinny. They were extremely cold. They would lift one paw and then alternate so they didn't have all four paws on the ground at one time," Landry said.

"They were extremely scared and nervous with any sort of human contact. They didn't want to come anywhere near myself or the other officer."

Landry said he completed a search warrant and returned Nov. 25. They took two of the dogs to fly to Yellowknife, but the other two were too aggressive for them to apprehend right away.

Spencer said the two dogs the RCMP flew down were "scared to death," and one had a seatbelt wrapped around its neck.

The following day the RCMP arrested Bishop on animal cruelty charges. He was released on the condition he not own or live with animals.

It wasn't until Dec. 4 that they found the remaining two dogs, which Landry said were tied up about 300 metres away from his house in a forest. They were flown to Yellowknife as well.

Spencer said Yuki, the first puppy to be flown to Yellowknife, as well as three of the last four have now been adopted.

Titan, the oldest dog they believe to be the father, is still waiting to be adopted.

Spencer and Landry both called it a "landmark case" in the territory, and hoped it would send a message to pet owners that they have to care for their animals safely and humanely.

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