ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — He said he stabbed his ailing cat to death to put it out of its misery, but it was a Goulds man’s own health issues that prompted a judge to rule against giving him prison time.
John (Jack) Duff was sentenced to two months’ probation in provincial court in St. John’s Tuesday, a month after pleading guilty to one count of unlawfully killing an animal.
Duff stabbed his 14-year-old pet cat, Oreo, to death on Oct. 13, 2018. That day, Duff’s adult son called police to report what his father had done.
RNC officers arrived to find Oreo’s body in the bushes at the end of Duff’s driveway on the Main Road. Inside the house, the officers found blood and fur in the kitchen sink.
Duff, who represented himself in court, told reporters outside the courtroom that he killed the cat outside and washed up in the sink. Once inside the courtroom, he turned away from reporters’ cameras and even put up his coat’s hood at one point.
During the sentencing hearing last month, Crown prosecutor Jude Hall had recommended the judge give Duff a two-month jail term along with probation and mandatory counselling. He had presented Duff’s criminal record, which included charges of impaired driving, driving while disqualified, theft, mischief and break and entry, all since 2014.
The 55-year-old has reported that he suffered from late-onset Huntington’s disease, a progressive brain disorder, which seemed to develop about five years ago.
In handing down the sentencing decision, Flynn pointed out that Duff said he called a non-profit group and a government agency to take the cat, but was turned down. He said while there was no evidence presented to prove that Duff had Huntington’s disease, there was some indication of it.
Flynn said the fact that Duff only began accumulating a criminal record since he developed symptoms of the disease, “leads one to believe he it’s had some effect on his behaviour.”
He said while Duff’s actions indicates a “cruel response” to the problem of the cat’s suffering, there were “unique circumstances” and that Duff’s Huntington’s disease may have led him to show “poor judgment, which are common symptoms of the disease. It shows some association.”
Therefore, Flynn said, a suspended sentence with two months’ probation was more appropriate.
One of the conditions of his probation was that he not own or have custody of an animal again.
Duff interrupted Flynn several times during sentencing, prompting Flynn to calmly say, “Just let me do my job here now, Mr. Duff.”
After sentencing, Duff asked Flynn what happens on probation.
“I’ve never been on probation before,” he said.
When Flynn offered a brief explanation and told him to go to the window outside court, Duff replied, “Oh, OK. Thank you, Your Honour,” and left the courtroom with his wife.
Twitter: @TelyRosie
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