A long and healthy life ended in a tragic and needless death says BC SPCA special constable Lynsay Bailey.

Brentwood Bay residents David Whiffin and Clayton Cunningham have been charged with animal cruelty after a 27-year-old Appaloosa gelding named Jalupae was starved to the point of emaciation and then hung to death. The alleged incident took place on a waterfront acreage in Brentwood Bay.

“It is so difficult to fathom why anyone would inflict such pain and suffering on an innocent animal,” said Bailey, who investigated the case. “We deal with horrific animal cruelty every day in our work, but this case was particularly heinous.”

“I still can’t believe that someone would do that to any animal,” said area resident Sue Ferguson.

Ferguson went to the SPCA with a complaint against a nearby property two years ago.” I am not a bleeding heart activist, but I do consider myself to be an expert when it comes to horses and their care — and these two horses were starving. There was no doubt,” she said.

“I went and fed those horses every day until the SPCA told me to stop, so that they could monitor their condition,” added Ferguson. “Now, two years later, this has happened … The public has to be made aware of the enormity of this crime.”

The SPCA is continuing to monitor the health of the horses that live on the property not far from Whiffin’s.

“We have no previous history for (Whiffin’s) address, and David Whiffin’s name has not come up (in the computer system),” said Bailey.

Bailey said Whiffin acquired Jalupae in November and has two other horses that are “in reasonably good condition.”

According to the BC SPCA investigation, the accused allowed Jalupae to starve to the point of emaciation and then tied a rope around the horse’s neck and attached it to the bucket of an excavator, raising Jalupae off the ground until he died of strangulation. “I can only imagine the abject terror and pain this poor animal must have experienced before he died,” said Bailey. “We are extremely pleased that Crown counsel approved these charges so that we can seek some justice for Jalupae.”

Ferguson, who is also a horse owner, said this should be taken as a cautionary tale for those who are giving horses away. “They need to be very careful and check into the histories of the people they are giving the animals to. That poor man who gave this horse to those people, he must be just sick. I can’t even bear to think about how badly he feels.”

Whiffin ran into trouble several years ago when he bought the historic Trader Vic’s building in Vancouver, barged it across the Georgia Strait onto his land in Central Saanich within 15 metres of a creek set-back.

“When someone fences an animal in and then knowingly starves them — is just the lowest form of crime,” said Ferguson.

Whiffin and Cunningham will appear in Victoria provincial court on November 30. If convicted, the two face a maximum fine of $10,000, up to five years in jail and a prohibition against owning animals.

editor@peninsulanewsreview.com