Patrick Ma / Edge columnist
On February 18, John Geick a 40 year old Calgarian man, was sentenced to a three year prison term for brutally beating his wife’s two dogs to death.
According to the CBC news article, “Calgary father who killed 2 dogs in violent attacks gets 3 years in jail” written by Meghan Grant, Geick was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of two counts of animal cruelty.
Taking the circumstances surrounding the crime into account, three years is far too lenient. Section 445 (2a) of the Criminal Code of Canada states that, “[anyone who] kills, maims, wounds, poisons or injures animals that are not cattle and are kept for a lawful purpose can be liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years.” This means that it is possible for the Judge to add two more years to his current sentence of three years.
Geick killed the two dogs out of selfishness and the need to be the center of attention. According to Geick’s wife, Joanna Smith, “Geick was jealous of the attention she would give their son and the dogs.”
Furthermore, “Smith said that after two previous incidents with Geick — one where he brought Sophie, Smith’s Basset Hound, home with bruises on her belly and another where he dragged Sophie upstairs by a choke chain — she “had concerns.” This indicates that this was not the first time Geick had mistreated the animals, showing that he was ignorant of the harm he caused the dogs and that this was a common occurrence.
In a CBC article written by Grant, a veterinarian’s “necropsies showed the animals both died from severe trauma;” “The basset hound’s liver had been “pulverized” and she bled into her abdomen” and that, “[the dog] would have been in “immense pain” and wouldn’t have lived more than 60 minutes after being abused.”
Geick showed lack of remorse and blatant ignorance towards his actions. For example, “in an interview with police after his arrest, Geick admitted to physically harming the dogs and using electrical tape to muzzle them but downplayed the degree to which he harmed the animals, according to the prosecutor’s opening statement,” stated in the CBC news article “Former spouse of accused dog killer testifies he was jealous of attention she gave animals” by Grant.
According to a Calgary Sun article “Man handed three-year prison term for killing wife’s dogs,” by Kevin Martin, “During his trial, Geick claimed he was “brainwashed” by Smith into admitting to police he injured the pets, claiming such an admission would allow them to reunite as a family.” This shows us that he still felt remorseless and that he thinks he did nothing wrong even though there are mountains of evidence against him. An instance of his guilt is stated in the CBC news article “Former spouse of accused dog killer testifies he was jealous of attention she gave animals;” according to Smith, Geick’s wife, “after her second dog died in a three-day span, she went into her garage and found a bloody towel, a mallet and electrical tape caked in dog hair.”
Based on the lack of remorse shown by Geick throughout the sentencing process, the ignorance towards his actions, and the heinous nature of this crime, the legal system should impose a harsher sentence.
Sources:
Calgary father who killed 2 dogs in violent attacks gets 3 years in jail
Former spouse of accused dog killer testifies he was jealous of attention she gave animals