If you have followed the case of April Dawn Irving you might think she could again be able to own multiple animals in Saskatchewan after this year. 83 dogs were seized in 2010 from her home near Foam Lake.

But it took another three years to go through the courts so in June of 2023, April Dawn Irving’s 10 year ban on having more than 2 animals will be up.

In 2015, 201 dogs were seized from her property in Milk River, Alberta. She was charged with animal cruelty and neglect and given a lifetime ban on owning dogs in that province.

Executive Director of Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan, Don Ferguson, explains if Irving had been convicted in Saskatchewan under the criminal code, she could have been banned from owning animals for life and it would apply across the entire jurisdiction of Canada.

However, those criminal code charges as well as Animal Protection Act charges were stayed when she pled guilty to other charges.

Changes were made to Saskatchewan’s Animal Protection legislation in 2018, but Ferguson says Irving’s charges in this province wouldn’t have changed much. The newly reworked Animal Protection Legislation also allows for up to a $25-thousand fine and/or 2 years in jail for animal cruelty charges.

Ferguson says Saskatchewan is one of the few provinces that has jail time for an animal offence outside of the Criminal Code.

April Dawn Irving had dogs seized in Fort McMurray, as well, in 2007.