Two rewards offered for information leading to a conviction

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• Historic Fort York David Spittal courtesy murmur.com
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An Alderwood cat is dead, the apparent victim of torture.

The cat's owner, a young man out of town for a few days, learned of his pet's violent death yesterday in a call from his landlord after a break-in of the garage of the Delta Street home.

"It was pretty upsetting, pretty gruesome," Etobicoke Humane Society (EHS) president Bill Blain said, after attending the call Tuesday night. "Someone tortured the cat to death.

"The degree of the injuries, this wasn't someone defending themselves. It was just a blatant act of cowardice and violence bordering on the depraved."

An EHS cruelty agent responded to the call, then drove the cat to the University of Guelph's School of Veterinary Medicine last night for a necropsy to determine time of death, Blain said.

It is believed the cat was killed three to five days ago.

Blain said it is among the worst cases of animal cruelty he has seen.

"It's just absolutely horrifying to think a human being could do this to a cat," he said. "It makes you wonder what this person could do to a child."

The cat's owner is "heartbroken," Blain said.

The young man's family is offering a $1,000 reward, the EHS a $500 reward, for any information leading to a criminal conviction in the case.

Cruelty to animals is a criminal, indictable offence.

"The sentence upon conviction would be entirely up to a judge," 22 Division Staff Sgt. Glen Dewling said. "But traditionally, judges don't take a kind view to someone harming an animal."

Police and the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) are also investigating.

Ontario SPCA spokesperson Alison Cross said the case is one of "the more gruesome" incidents of animal cruelty the agency has encountered.

The agency receives cruelty complaint calls daily; it received more than 17,000 calls last year alone, Cross said.

Cross said the Ontario SPCA is hopeful Bill 50, the Provincial Animal Welfare Act, passes third reading at Queen's Park this fall. The bill seeks to widen the definition of animal cruelty to include all domestic animals, beyond its current scope outlining standards of care for dogs and cats bred for sale.

"Ontario is in last place compared with other provinces on the issue of animal cruelty," Cross said. "If Bill 50 passes, Ontario would be a leader in the country in animal protection."

Anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity at a house on Delta Street in recent days is asked to call the EHS at 416-249-6100, the Ontario SPCA provincial office at 1-888-668-7722 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).