A potbelly pet pig named Molly has been slaughtered and eaten by the owner, just weeks after being adopted from the BC SPCA.
Lorie Chortyk, general manager, community relations at BC SPCA told the Richmond News in an email that, “If there is animal cruelty for any animal, whether or not they are adopted from us, we would fully investigate and recommend charges if cruelty occurred.”
The three-year-old potbellied pig was rescued and nursed back to health at the SPCA’s Cowichan & District branch before she got adopted out in mid-January, Global News reported.
B.C. SPCA then found out Molly was killed and consumed by the owner a month later, who goes by Austin Manson Forget on Facebook.
Will the owner get charged for killing and eating a pet? The answer is a no, despite the fact that this incident stirred up huge anger on social media.
“In this case, because it is not illegal to eat animals for food in Canada, while we are extremely upset about the situation, there is no legal basis for a cruelty charge,” Chortyk said.
The owner made an apology to the public after the incident got reported. He posted on Facebook, “I understand that I will not be able to completely make up for what I have done, but I do promise that Molly died humanely and it was not done for fun or for sport.”
Chortyk also told the Global News that “it’s not illegal to kill your own animal in Canada. Someone can take a gun and shoot their dog in the head and as long as the dog dies instantly, unfortunately, there’s no law against that.”
BC SPCA has put the owner on the blacklist from adopting any animals from them in the future.
The adoption process in BC SPCA includes an initial adoption matching, in-person interviews, signing adoption contract and adoption follow up.
So far no incident like this has happened in Richmond and since the Richmond SPCA is not a full-scale shelter, it has not adopted out farm animals like potbellied pigs to the community here.
