INNISFAIL – Mike Piesse and his family want to put the incident with their pet cat Mikey behind them.
“It was just a terrible thing that happened and we happen to be the family it happened to,” said Piesse.
Mikey was euthanized without the Piesse family’s knowledge by a veterinarian on the instruction of Innisfail peace officer Brandi Gray, contrary to the town’s animal control bylaw, according to town CAO Todd Becker.
The bylaw states the animal must have been kept for a minimum of three days excluding Sundays and holidays.
After being held in a town facility over the weekend, the animal was euthanized on June 11, one day before the bylaw states any further action should have been taken.
Gray resigned in late June.
Piesse said he is pleased with steps the town is taking to ensure something like this won’t happen again and harbours no ill will towards anyone.
“Everything was handled well. There’s nothing I can (hold against) anybody,” said Piesse.
Piesse said he believes Gray’s actions were an abuse of power and a betrayal by someone in a position of trust and authority.
“My main point is that somebody that handles themselves like that has no business (being) in that position,” he said.
Piesse noted he had a previous run-in with Gray in May over an animal control complaint regarding Mikey.
“She used her job to attack my family,” he said. “I don’t see that you can paint that any other way. She broke every rule she could to harm myself and my family by getting our cat. That’s as simple as it is.”
Despite the upsetting and emotional situation, Piesse said the family will not pursue criminal charges or animal cruelty charges against Gray.
He said the SPCA was called and was willing to help with the situation, but could not however, because there was no proof of cruelty to animals.
“That Mikey was euthanized didn’t qualify as cruelty,” explained Piesse, noting he was in contact with an investigative SPCA agent on the day of the incident.
Attempts to reach Gray for comment were not successful at press time.
Meanwhile, the Town of Innisfail is moving forward with its plans to bring changes to how it carries out its animal control bylaw, say officials.
The review comes in the wake of the Mikey situation.
“Staff is reviewing the bylaw as well as the procedures and the policies that would align with that bylaw,” said CAO Becker. “That will be presented (to council) in the near future.”
The changes in question pertain mainly to the policies and procedures and not to the bylaw itself, he said.
“Really, the focus is on the policies and procedures in relation to the bylaw,” he said, noting they will be a separate piece of administrative legislation and not part of the bylaw itself. “How do you administer the bylaw? That’s what the policies and procedures would outline.”
Due to the situation, council will be able to review and understand what those administrative policies and procedures will be, he said.
Meanwhile, Penhold and Bowden also have animal control bylaws.
Peace officers in Penhold have no involvement in picking up stray or lost animals, but may be asked to assist on occasion when required, said Rick Binnendyk, CAO.
“We have an outside contract with animal control services. (Stray animals) are handled by the outside agency,” said Binnendyk. “(Our bylaw) talks about licensing and we use it for tracking animals (licensed pets).”
Bowden’s animal control bylaw states that animals must be licensed. The town’s bylaw officer is permitted to capture and impound an animal running at large, although the town often uses a complaint based approach to animal control.
“We also have a cat trap that is available for residents for (nuisance) cats,” said Jacqui Molyneux, interim CAO, noting strict rules and regulations pertaining to its use.
“We try to re-home (animals) if an owner is not found,” she said.
