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A review panel which oversees the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals returned a mixed decision Thursday that cast doubt on some of the animal cruelty charges against the Toronto Humane Society's board of directors and four senior staff members.

An independent panel that oversees the OSPCA, the Animal Care Review Board, found that only one of four cats that were examined by OSPCA investigators during an inspection of the THS's River Street facility on June 2 were in distress.

Care compliance orders issued for the animals were appealed by the THS at a hearing before the ACRB in October. The review board's decision was delivered yesterday evening ordering the OSPCA to refund the THS $231.70 toward the cost of complying with the animal care orders of three cats, and questioned the appropriateness of the OSPCA's inspection.

"The issues before the board were entirely different, the charges now are very serious and of a criminal nature and we're confident that they will be proven in court," said Brian Shiller, a lawyer for the OSPCA.

Frank Addario, a lawyer for some of the board members, said in a telephone message that "the judgment probably speaks for itself."

The board found that the three of the animals, including two elderly cats with dental problems and a feral cat with mouth ulcerations and bloody diarrhea, were not in distress because they were under the care of head veterinarian Steve Sheridan. The concerns raised by the OSPCA's veterinarian, they decided, boiled down to a difference of professional opinion.

The board found that another cat, a young female named Kiki, was in distress because she hadn't been seen by a veterinarian in over two weeks. OSPCA inspectors said that Kiki was severely dehydrated, caked in mucus and puss and unable to stand. Her records showed that no one had cared for her in the two weeks since she'd been admitted to the shelter, and the board ruled that she therefore, was "no longer under the care of a veterinarian."

During his opening remarks at the hearing, THS lawyer Pellegrino Capone said that the OSPCA Act "has been improperly applied by the OSPCA for its own political and financial gains." The OSPCA had secured a warrant to enter the facility and THS president Tim Trow consented to let them in, but the review board questioned whether the OSPCA's officers had the jurisdiction to enter the shelter because veterinary facilities are exempted from the OSPCA Act and the animals were under the care of Dr. Sheridan.

The board denied the THS's requests for $952.55 in staff wages and $115.85 toward Kiki's care. The THS had requested the OSPCA reimburse their legal bills as well, but the review did not award these costs.

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