- October 18, 2022
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- 12 minutes read
Sask. man convicted in dog death fined $2,000 for separate dog assault – Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
A Saskatoon judge imposed the sentence after convicting Travis Mark Dauvin of assaulting a Rottweiler pup named Brita on Jan. 11, 2020.
A Saskatchewan man has been fined $2,000 for beating a dog with a broom handle during an argument with his ex-girlfriend, in addition to the six-month community sentence he is serving for killing another ex-girlfriend’s dog.
Judge Doug Agnew imposed the sentence on Friday in Saskatoon provincial court after finding Travis Mark Dauvin, 33, guilty of assaulting the Rottweiler pup named Brita in his Thode, Sask. home on Jan. 11, 2020.
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“I am not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt for the assault on the dog in the way that Ms. Sieben describes it, but Mr. Dauvin convicts himself through his evidence,” Agnew said at the end of Dauvin’s Saskatoon provincial court trial on Aug. 3.
“I believe him when he told Ms. Sieben that he struck Brita with the broom handle, and I believe that he struck her hard enough to bend it.”
The trial heard Dauvin’s relationship with Morgan Sieben was crumbling when they rescued Brita from a neglect situation and fostered her for about two months before the assault.
Sieben testified that she heard Brita yelping and saw Dauvin in their garage, holding her in the air by the neck. She said she followed him around a corner, trying to open her phone to record what he would do next, and saw he had Brita on the ground, hitting her head.
She said she begged him to stop and asked if he felt tough.
“He looked up at me and I noticed he had a broom handle in his right hand and I asked if he had hit that over her and he looked at me and just nodded yes,” she testified.
Sieben said Dauvin left the house and she stayed with Brita to make sure the dog was okay. Dauvin texted her an hour later, saying he felt bad and had blacked out, she told court.
“I told him, ‘You got a lot of anger issues and maybe you should talk about it more and not take it out on the dog.’ ”
Dauvin testified that on the day of the incident, he found the garage covered in dog feces and urine, with multiple objects destroyed.
“I grabbed Brita by the collar and I was yelling at her and taking her to all the things that she had done and broken in the garage,” he told court, adding he was more mad at Sieben because she hadn’t walked Brita.
He said Brita was away from them in a corner when Sieben came into the garage. They started to argue and he lied to Sieben about hitting Brita with the broom handle, he said.
“In reality the dog busted all that stuff. I wanted (Sieben’s) attention because I wasn’t getting any help and I was getting frustrated,” Dauvin testified.
“His explanation, to be blunt, was ridiculous,” Agnew said in his decision, questioning why Dauvin had the broom handle in his hand if he wasn’t using it.
During cross-examination, Dauvin denied having a temper and said he acted “out of character” that day when yelling at Brita.
“I love Brita. As much as I helped her out, she helped me out. We had a good bond together. I would have never hit the dog.”
Four months after the assault, Dauvin caused the death of another ex-girlfriend’s dog, Jake, when he threw the 11-pound Maltese against a clothing rack in response to being bit.
After he was convicted of Brita’s assault, he pleaded guilty to unlawfully killing Jake and was sentenced to a six-month jail term in the community followed by a 12-month probation order and a three-year prohibition on owning or controlling any animals.
Crown prosecutor Aaron Martens said it would have been redundant to seek probation conditions in Brita’s case because the judge in Jake’s case already imposed conditions to address Dauvin’s anger management issues.
After Friday’s sentencing, Dauvin provided a statement to the StarPhoenix:
“Unfortunately we live in a cancel culture where stories like this get traffic and likes and nobody cares to look at both sides of the story or how much it ruins that person or there (sic) family. There is so much more to this story. These girls were vicious when they didn’t get what they wanted and went to great lengths to receive attention. I wanted to stay respectful and quiet and leave my truth in the courtroom but was disappointed I never got the chance,” he wrote.
“My story will come out, but for now I’m excited to get back to my life. I want to thank all my real friends and my amazing family that helped me through all the tough times.”
Sieben also provided a statement, thanking Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan and the RCMP for “allowing us to be the voice for Brita who can’t speak up for herself.
“Animal abuse does not only hurt animals, but it also affects our entire community and I believe it is important to bring awareness to try to prevent this from happening again,” Sieben said.
Her old neighbour, Alexandra MacKinnon, took Brita into her home and got her the medical care she needed after the couple broke up.
“I am saddened every time I am reminded of Brita’s past, but am happy to be providing her with a loving home, to which she claims the bed every night,” MacKinnon said.
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