A woman whose horses were so starved that some of them had to be euthanized is not allowed to have any animals again, for the rest of her life.
The lifetime prohibition is part of the sentence handed down to Ellen Haudeck on Wednesday in North Battleford provincial court.
The 67-year-old was convicted earlier this year of criminally neglecting the animals in her care at her property in the RM of Battle River.
“It is hard to imagine a more severe set of circumstances involving multiple animals, some of them in torturous degrees of distress, to the point where euthanization was required immediately, in some instances,” Judge Kevin Hill said.
Haudeck was charged after animal protection officers had to euthanize some of her horses in January 2024. They also seized 34 other horses, 11 dogs and six cats.
Investigators had previously visited Haudeck in November 2023 and issued a corrective notice, but when they returned two months later, things were worse.
Woman guilty of criminal neglect after dozens of horses found starving near North Battleford, Sask.
Hill said he didn’t believe Haudeck was intentionally cruel toward her animals, but rather that it appeared she didn’t have the “physical and/or financial capacity” to care for them.
He sentenced her to a four-month conditional sentence order, which is a jail sentence served in the community, followed by 20 months of probation.
The conditions of the sentence order and probation include that Haudeck has to participate in personal counselling, as directed by her probation officer. She must also perform 40 hours of community service to provide some reparations to the community.
In regard to the lifetime prohibition on having animals, Hill noted that any future risk Haudeck poses to the community is not to people, but to animals.
“The unfortunate reality is … the court cannot and will not be trusting Ms. Haudeck to care for animals,” Hill said. “She has shown that she is unable to both care for [animals] or problem solve, such that the matter ended up coming before the court here.”
Haudeck was convicted on the 2024 charges on April 22 of this year. While those charges were before the court, including until her sentencing on Wednesday, she was subject to court-ordered conditions that included not having any animals.
On May 6, new charges were laid against her. They allege that she had more than 30 dogs in her care and that she “did willfully neglect to provide suitable and adequate food, water, shelter and care” for them and caused them unnecessary pain or suffering.
Her next court appearance on the new charges is set for Oct. 28.
