B.C. man faces cruelty charges again after 29 animals are seized

WINLAW, B.C. – The SPCA has seized more than two dozen animals from a Winlaw-area farm in the Slocan Valley.

Crown lawyers have charged John Vieira with three counts of animal cruelty after a team of British Columbia SPCA constables took the animals into care and presented the evidence to prosecutors.

Marcie Moriarty, the society’s chief prevention officer, says the carcasses of dead horses, a bull and a goat were also found on the property.

She says the sheep, goats, horses, dogs, a cow and a rooster were being kept in overcrowded and inadequate conditions, were underweight and were suffering from a range of medical ailments.

Moriarty says Vieira has been convicted three times on similar allegations and has been charged four times with breaching conditions of his sentencing.

The livestock is now being cared for at foster boarding facilities in the valley, while the dogs are with the SPCA in Kelowna.