Judge bans woman from ever owning dogs

WINDSOR, Ontario, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- A Canadian judge issued Ontario's first legal dog ban Wednesday, forbidding a 20-year-old admitted abuser in Windsor from ever owning a dog again.

Justice of the Peace Angela Renaud told Amanda Armstrong the ban was on top of a $1,000 fine issued last week after Armstrong pleaded guilty to two counts of animal cruelty, the Windsor Star reported.

In February, Humane Society agents executed a search Feb. 20 at Armstrong's home acting on a tip and found a feces-littered home with five starving dogs and two dead ones, the report said.

Two of the dogs had to be euthanized, and homes have since been found for two of the others, court was told.

Nancy McCabe, a field agent with the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, told the Star after the verdict the provincial precedent of an ownership ban was wonderful news, and one she would pursue in every successive prosecution under the Dog Owners' Liability Act.

"I will ask for it every single time," she said.

She told the Star spot checks would be made in the future on Armstrong to ensure no dogs were in her home.