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HALIFAX, N.S. —

At an appeal hearing Monday, the Nova Scotia SPCA and Karin Robertson painted two very different pictures of the conditions 35 dogs were living under near Wolfville on Dec. 10.

JoAnne Landsburg, chief inspector of the N.S. SPCA, testified she first visited Robertson’s property on Sept. 18 as part of an investigation after two special constables came back with “many concerns with multiple dogs” from an inspection two days prior.

“I was immediately hit with the smell of dog and urine when I walked inside,” Landsburg testified during the SPCA’s first public appeal hearing at a Halifax hotel.

Landsburg had multiple issues, such as stacked crates, the number of dogs running around and unsanitary conditions, so she gave Robertson a list of orders to follow and said the SPCA would return to follow up.

The SPCA returned for several inspections after Lansdburg’s initial visit and gave Robertson more compliance orders.

'An array of negative states'

During a followup visit with animal behaviouralist Rebecca Ledger in October, Landsburg estimated she saw upward of 82 dogs on Robertson’s property.

“(Robertson) could never tell me how many dogs were on the property,” Landsburg said.

Aside from the living conditions and the number of dogs, Ledger was concerned about the dogs' behavioural patterns.

“It appeared they were suffering from an array of negative states,” Ledger testified. “They were incredibly fearful of strangers. They were very shut down, some of them.”

Ledger noted some dogs she deemed aggressive were in pens next to one another, while some mother dogs were locked in crates.

Final chance to surrender

One of the dogs seized by the Nova Scotia SPCA from what the organization said was a puppy mill near Wolfville. - Nova Scotia SPCA

Landsburg wrote Robertson a letter near the end of November, asking her to surrender some of her dogs.

“I wanted to give her one more final opportunity to reduce the number of dogs she had,” Landsburg said.

“When I did this, we had a plan in place with a time frame because I wasn’t prepared to let those conditions go on forever.”

When Robertson didn’t surrender any more dogs to the SPCA, Landsburg obtained a search warrant.

On Dec. 10, 19 border collies and 16 Jack Russell terriers were seized from Robertson’s property. Almost all of the dogs, some with catch poles around their neck, had to be carried to the vehicles because they would roll or were aggressive, Landsburg said.

Landsburg showed many graphic photos of the kennel, inside of the house and fenced areas on Robertson’s property from the day of the seizure and a previous visit.

“You couldn’t walk anywhere without stepping in feces,” Landsburg said as she clicked through photos of green-coloured water pooled outside in a fenced-in area, kennels with paw prints up the walls and dirty wood floors.

“I don’t think the kennels had ever been cleaned or sanitized.”

Many in attendance, most in support of the SPCA, gasped, mumbled to one another or shouted words like “disgusting” as the photos were shown, while some left the packed room shaking their heads.

Since seizing the dogs, five Jack Russell terriers and six border collies have been born. Another litter is expected at any time, Landsburg said.

Witnesses for the SPCA testified all of the border collies have high levels of anxiety.

“The dogs are extremely shut down in fear,” Amy MacRae, a dog trainer who has been working with the border collies, testified.

“One of the puppies himself was so withdrawn from human contact he would pretty much risk self-injury to avoid it.”

Every one of the border collies was severely matted with burs in their fur, a veterinarian with the SPCA said, adding some of the Jack Russells had roundworms.

'I was doing everything I could to accommodate them, but I couldn’t'

“People who visit prior to or during chores may see an unclear area, but I assure you when I complete my chores, it’s clean.” - Karin Robertson

But Robertson, 57, said the SPCA has been inspecting her place for five years and only started having an issue with her after a couple made a false post about her business on Facebook in July.

“This is when it started really. It was shared 1,500 times and it went from ‘don’t buy a puppy from Karin Robertson’ to ‘this is a puppy mill,’” said Robertson, who was representing herself.

In August 2019, Robertson said she had too many border collie puppies because she was having difficulties selling them.

“I was doing everything I could to accommodate them, but I couldn’t, so I contacted the SPCA for help,” she said, adding she surrendered some of her dogs.

Robertson said after she was given the compliance orders, she was “working really hard" to make sure things were up to code.

Robertson said the kennel floors had foam insulation and each had a mat or cot. She showed pictures of some kennels labelled with names, but most of the pictures didn’t include the floor.

“I clean my kennel twice a day and more often if needed,” Robertson said.

Robertson, who wasn’t present during the seizure of the dogs, said it may smell like feces or urine before she cleans the kennels, inside of her home or other areas.

“I live with my dogs in my home. It’s not going to be picture perfect,” Robertson said.

“People who visit prior to or during chores may see an unclear area, but I assure you when I complete my chores, it’s clean.”

Robertson claimed the SPCA traumatized the dogs during the seizure and that may be why they’re showing anxious tendencies.

“SPCA visits are stressful because their visits are not planned, they are not my friend who I welcome into my home,” Robertson said.

“They are enforcement officers who make me feel uncomfortable, leading my dogs to feel uncomfortable.”

'I’ve never seen any problems with the dogs'

Robertson showed a few videos, some recent and others not, of dogs running through a field, one dog chewing a bone and another walking near her feet.

“The SPCA have never witnessed my dogs in their home on a day-to-day basis in their natural environment exhibiting normal behaviour,” she said.

All four of Robertson’s witnesses, her friends who have been around the dogs, said they have never seen the dogs act aggressively.

Darren LeBlanc said he watched the dogs for a week and experienced no issues.

“I’ve never seen any problems with the dogs. There was no aggression or all this stuff that I’ve been hearing,” LeBlanc said. “I think Karin is not this evil person she’s been made out to be.”

When questioned by Michael Scott, the lawyer representing the SPCA, Robertson admitted she did sell a dog to a buyer not knowing it was pregnant. The dog later had a litter of puppies on the buyer’s couch.

Scott pressed Robertson on questions about puppy mills, as the SPCA believes Robertson was orchestrating one, but she declined to answer as she “is a professional, not a puppy mill.”

Robertson said the SPCA unlawfully removed the dogs from her property and is asking for the return of her 35 dogs plus the money the SPCA has raised for the dogs.

“When I read the letter (in November), I fear the SPCA were planning on seizing my dogs regardless of compliance,” Robertson said.

The Animal Cruelty appeal board, consisting of three people selected by the province, has two business days to give a verbal decision.

Near the end of the public hearing, the SPCA issued a news release stating they have charged Robertson with two counts of animal cruelty under the Animal Protection Act.

Robertson is to appear in Kentville provincial court on Jan. 21 at 9:30 a.m.

The charges are separate from the appeal.

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