TORONTO, Ont. – A man who attacked a family of raccoons with a shovel because they were destroying his backyard garden pleaded guilty to a charge of cruelty to animals on Tuesday, his lawyer Peter Scully told CityNews.ca.
Dong Nguyen was given a conditional discharge that included a year of probation and 100-hours of community service.
A second charge of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose was dropped in exchange for his guilty plea.
Nguyen, 53, swatted at an adult raccoon and five of its babies in his yard near Bloor Street West and Landsdowne Avenue on June 1, 2011.
Neighbours called 911 after hearing the animals cry and seeing Nguyen bludgeoning them. One of the animals was injured and required veterinary care, which Nguyen must pay for.
Scully spoke to CityNews.ca on Tuesday, saying his client was remorseful, but didn’t understand the protocol for dealing with wild animals in an urban setting.
“He was aggravated by the destruction that the ‘coons were causing in his backyard and he didn’t know that what he had to do is call the animal control people. He thought he had to deal with it himself,” Scully said.
“He’s certainly learned his lesson, he’s never been involved with the court system in any way before and he never will be again.”
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There should be a period (1 month per year?) where you are allowed to kill or trap them and turn them in for reward at $20 to $50 each. The way that they have overrun this city is ridiculous! I’d like to know when society became so spineless that as a whole, there is outrage when someone protects their own property. Grow a backbone people! It is time to take charge of our own properties!
I can understand the frustration that he had over the raccoons. My neighborhood is full of these creatures who poop in our yards, eat and make a mess of our garbage, and scare my kids (they were once hiding in our grey bin and when we walked passed it popped out scaring the crap out of me and my kids). They are over populated and the city is doing nothing to fix this problem, and yes, it is a problem! I wouldn’t necessarily take it into my own hands the way he did, but when the city is doing nothing to control the raccoon population and they become a constant nuisance, I can why someone could lose it.
Cruelty against animals….the law gets tough.
Cruelty against people….the law is out to lunch.
What about animal cruelty charges for the cops that shot the coyote who didn’t even attack anyone!?
The cop did what he had to do, just like this man did what he had to do to protect his garden. Toronto is overrun with these pestilential raccoons but some people care more about animals than they do people. Do you think farmers give a damn about shooting these pests when they start to damage their farms and livestock? People like you need to get your priorities straight. People first.
What a joke. These racoons were destroying his property, he should have every right to kill them, period.
As for the incident with the cop, coyote’s are dangerous animals, human lives should never be put at risk over an animal.
It’s called the food chain, look it up, and then go hug a tree. SMH.
My gawd, we’re overrun with the things, digging in garbage, destroying things, breaking into houses, trying to menace people and children!
The city needs to step up and mount a serious vaccination and sterilization program to get the population under control!
People have hysterics over a coyote or two, and the city is out in force. We are being overrun by raccoons and … nothing. It’s not the raccoons’ fault; they’re very well evolved to urban living. But food is so very available, especially during garbage strikes, they have no predators here, of course they’ll overpopulate!
Yes, the onus is on us to be better neighbours and citizens too. Proper disposal of garbage would be a good start.