Animal cruelty case spurs rally, resignation call

An animal-welfare proponentis calling for Manitoba's current and former agriculture ministers to resign over whatshe suggests were botched investigations into a Swan River farmer accused of mistreating livestock and dogs.

A protest rally is planned for noon Tuesday at the legislature.

Many people complained to the provinceabout the farmer over the past two years but nothing was ever done, saidBonnie Riddell, who is organizing Tuesday's rally.

She said former Agriculture Minister Rosann Wowchuk (now finance minister) and the current portfolio head, Stan Struthers, should step down from their posts.

Walter Goba, 68, was recently charged by RCMP with 44 criminal animal cruelty counts. He is also facing an April trial in connection to four animal control offences.

Police raided Goba's farm on Dec. 1 and seized horses, donkeys and dogs that RCMP and animal-welfare officials said were neglected and unhealthy.

'These animals probably should have been seized many, many years ago.' Bonnie Riddell

A Winnipeg woman who bought a dog from the facility told CBC News earlier this month that she had flagged concerns to provincial officials in 2008.

Susan Otto said she encountered disturbing conditions at the farm when she bought a dog there and that she had to get an air freshener for her car because the dog smelled so bad.

She was so concerned that she called Manitoba's provincial veterinarian's office and Wowchuk, the agriculture minister at the time. Nothing was done, despite follow-up calls, Otto said.

"It was absolutely a bureaucratic breakdown," Riddell said Monday.

"This matter was reported to so many government agencies. These animals probably should have been seized many, many years ago."

Riddell said she also wants any provincial veterinary inspectors connected to the Goba case to be fired.

She said she is forming a new oversight group to ensure future animal abuse complaints are properly dealt with.