Sask. producer was charged under the Animal Protection Act and the Criminal Code of Canada
SASKATOON — The crown has stayed all charges levied against a producer from Craik, Sask., for violating the province’s animal protection laws.
“It was a long haul, but it showed I was right, and they were wrong,” said Tom Miller.
“They came out here and they started bossing me around, and they didn’t know what they were talking about.”
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Don Ferguson, chief animal protection officer with the Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan (APSS), said he has not yet had a chance to speak with the prosecutor who stayed the charges, so he is unable to comment.
Miller was charged under sections 4 and 23 of the Animal Protection Act, 2018, and section 445 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
The charges date back to May 2023 when an animal protection officer was driving past Miller’s farm and noticed cattle he thought were thin.
He reported it to the APSS tip line, which launched an investigation that culminated in corrective action orders and eventually the seizure of Miller’s 55 cattle.
Miller’s lawyer Jim Lutz, a partner with Calgary firm Dartnell Lutz, said the real problem came when APSS hired Saskatoon veterinarian Dennis Will to inspect the animals. Will determined that the cattle were covered in lice and emaciated.
Bone samples taken from two dead animals later confirmed that they were not emaciated.
The cattle were taken to Heartland Livestock in Moose Jaw, where a different vet scraped their hides and determined there were no lice, said Lutz.
The crown never provides reasons for staying a case, but he thinks it was impossible for the prosecutor to proceed with the evidence she had.
Lutz said his client has been through the wringer.
“That’s a terrible thing to put a guy through who really loves his cattle. He treats them like his own children,” he said.
Miller has spent $100,000 on legal fees and getting his cattle back. He had to sell a dozen cow-calf pairs and scrap metal and cash out his Co-op pension to pay the bills.
He plans to go after the province to recoup those costs in a civil case.
Miller believes his case shows that the APSS is “not God” and that they wield way too much power.
“Maybe they’ll think twice before they come and take someone’s livelihood away from them,” he said.
Miller’s friend, Corey Kuemper, plans to make Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and the provincial agriculture department aware of the case.
“They’re out of bounds. They’ve been given too much power,” he said.
Contact sean.pratt@producer.com
