Men charged with starving then hanging horse

Two Vancouver Island men have been charged with animal cruelty in a bizarre case where an elderly, emaciated horse was killed by hanging.

David Whiffin and Clayton Cunningham, both from the Victoria area, will appear in Victoria provincial court Nov. 30. If convicted, the two face a maximum fine of $10,000, up to five years in jail and a prohibition against owning animals.

They are accused of allowing a 27-year-old Appaloosa gelding named Jalupae to starve, and then tying its neck to the bucket of an excavator, then raising it so the horse was off the ground. It died from strangulation.



The case is the worst SPCA investigators have seen in recent memory, said animal protection officer Erika Paul, noting it doesn’t involve neglect, lack of knowledge or finances.

“This is right at the other end of the spectrum,” said Paul. “How somebody does this is beyond my comprehension.”

Lynsay Bailey, the SPCA officer who investigated the case, said it’s difficult to understand why someone would allow an animal to die in that way. “We deal with horrific animal cruelty every day in our work but this case is particularly heinous.”