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UPDATE: B.C. woman gets 7-year ban in animal cruelty case after 82 cats, dogs seized

Two years probation and 100 hours of community service for Surrey woman Xin (Ivy) Zhou
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Xin (Ivy) Zhou outside Surrey Provincial Court Wednesday. (Tracy Holmes photo)

A Surrey woman charged with animal cruelty in connection with the February 2016 seizure of 82 distressed animals has been found guilty.

In Surrey Provincial Court Wednesday, received two years probation but ѻý despite a request from Crown ѻý no lifetime ban from owning, caring for or possessing animals.

Judge Daniel Weatherly did, however, ban Zhou from owning, caring for or possessing domestic animals for the next seven years.

In rendering the penalty, Weatherly said he had to consider that Zhou, 51, has no prior record.

ѻýMost importantly, she did not intentionally harm these animals, and today, sheѻýs expressed a willingness to learn how to take care of animals properly,ѻý Weatherly said after delivering the guilty verdict that morning.

The decision concluded seven days of trial that began April 23.

BC SPCA had announced in 2016 that Zhou had been charged under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, following the seizure of 67 cats, 12 dogs and three puppies from a property in the 19400-block of Colebrook Road.

According to a 2016 news release, the cats seized were primarily Persians and short-haired exotics; the seized dogs included four French bulldogs, a Boston terrier, a Pomeranian with three puppies, a Chihuahua, a poodle, a Rottweiler, a Doberman, a Jack Russell terrier and a shiba inu.

Zhou was charged with a single count of causing an animal to be in distress. The charge encompassed all of the animals that were deemed to be in distress, prosecutor Kelly Johnston confirmed to Peace Arch News outside court Wednesday.

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Weatherly recounted witness evidence that detailed animals found in dark, inadequately ventilated and unsanitary conditions, with many suffering from conditions including ringworm and respiratory illness.

While the court heard during trial that Zhou had taken animals to the vet about 80 times for treatment or diagnosis of various conditions, Zhouѻýs evidence was that ѻývery fewѻý animals were sick, Weatherly said.

She also claimed that SPCA officials who had visited her property on previous occasions ѻýwanted her cats because they were expensive,ѻý and that they had given her instructions on what she should do regarding their care ѻýabout 10 times.ѻý

Those instructions, she testified, were not translated into Mandarin and Zhou ѻýestimated she understood 10 per cent of what they said.ѻý

The judge said he ѻýdid not find Miss Zhou to be a credible witness.ѻý

ѻýAt times her evidence made no logical sense,ѻý he said.

While defence counsel Chen Shen had submitted a defence of due diligence ѻý noting Zhou had taken steps to improve the animalsѻý conditions and that it didnѻýt require that perfect standards to be met ѻý Weatherly said the facts at bar ѻýare far, far belowѻý perfect standards.

Prior to sentencing, Zhou ѻý who had told court she knew 30-50 English words ѻý spoke to reporters without a translator. One person at the scene who speaks Mandarin said Zhou had told media she planned to appeal the decision.

At the sentencing hearing, Shen told Weatherly that a lifetime ban on animal ownership is ѻýnot warranted.ѻý

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Through an interpreter, Zhou ѻý asked by Weatherly prior to sentencing if she had anything she wanted to say ѻý told the court that her ѻýlifelong goal is to be someoneѻý who can take care of animals well.ѻý

ѻýI wish your honour would give me a chance, let me learn how to let the animals live happier, healthier life,ѻý she said. ѻýIѻým prepared to work hard at it for the rest of my life.ѻý

Both Crown and defence had agreed a suspended sentence would be appropriate.

Weatherly also imposed conditions including that Zhou perform 100 hours of community service by yearѻýs end, and that she is not to live at any residence where domestic animals are present.

Zhou is schedule to return to court in January 2019, faced with a charge of breaching conditions while awaiting trial. She entered a not-guilty plea on that charge Wednesday afternoon.



Tracy Holmes

About the Author: Tracy Holmes

Tracy Holmes has been a reporter with Peace Arch News since 1997.
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