A high-risk offender who was convicted of torturing and killing animals and admitted to wanting to kill homeless people has been granted two-hour, weekly unescorted visits into the community.

Under the conditions of the order, Kayla Bourque will have to wear a GPS bracelet and provide a detailed itinerary.

The unsupervised visits can only take place on Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. PT.

"It's all to further rehabilitation which is really the purpose of a probation order," said her lawyer, Andrew Bonfield. "The idea is to gradually give her a bit more freedom and flexibility."

He said Bourque is keen to establish trust with the parole board, and she sees this as an opportunity to do so.

"This is just the beginning of a long process for Miss Bourque, and we're just hoping that it can be really well planned and that at the end of it she's that much more independent and adjusted."

Previous probation breach

Bourque, 25, was convicted in November 2012 of causing unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to animals, willfully and without lawful excuse, killing animals, and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

She lives in New Westminster, B.C., her life governed by a set of 47 conditions, which include not accessing social networking sites or owning a device with online capability. She can only go online under the supervision of a probation officer to look for work.

In March 2013, Bourque was arrested for breaching conditions of her probation surrounding her use of the internet.

Kayla Bourque says she is "willing to step up" and do her bit to get the treatment she needs.

On Jan. 20, she appeared in Vancouver provincial court for a review of the two-year probation term she got last fall after breaching a sentence she received in 2013 for killing and torturing her family pets.

Once considered a promising student at Simon Fraser University, Bourque saw her dreams of being a criminologist cut short in 2012 by a startling confession to a fellow student that she had dismembered cats in her hometown of Prince George, and that she fantasized about getting a gun and shooting a homeless person.

She claimed she was taking forensic classes to "get away" with something in the future.

That admission led to a search of Bourque's residence and the discovery of a bag containing a kitchen knife, a razor blade and a mask, along with videos of her killing and hanging the family dog.

She was diagnosed as a sexual sadist and narcissist with sociopathic tendencies when she was first sentenced.