A Saskatoon man convicted of encouraging his three dogs to attack a city police officer and his canine partner will spend weekends in jail.
Provincial court Judge Morris Baniak on Tuesday ordered Anthony Robert Regnier to serve a 90-day intermittent sentence, followed by one year of probation. In October, Baniak found him guilty of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon — the weapon being his dogs.
The criminal code section was created in 2009 to deter people who hurt police, the Crown prosecutor noted, arguing for a jail sentence of six to nine months.
“This is a unique case,” defence lawyer Blaine Beaven said, arguing his client should receive a lengthy probation order rather than jail.
Baniak said he could not find any prior cases with sufficiently similar circumstances.
On Aug. 2, 2015, Const. Edward Panamaroff initiated a canine track after a crash involving a stolen vehicle. His police dog, Kato, located two suspects walking in the Riversdale neighbourhood. One of them was Regnier.
K-9 Kato and handler Cst. Eddie Panamaroff at a swearing-in ceremony.
Panamaroff identified himself as a police officer and yelled out two commands to stop. A woman stopped, but Regnier did not, so the officer released his dog.
Regnier then told his three dogs to “sic” and “bite” Panamaroff and the officer’s dog after Kato bit Regnier’s leg during the attempted arrest, court heard.
Crown prosecutor Cory Bliss said even if Regnier didn’t initially know Panamaroff was a police officer, he was aware of it when he released his dogs. Bliss listed the number of dogs involved as an aggravating factor.
Beaven argued Regnier’s intent wasn’t so much to hurt the officer as to prevent himself from being further attacked by Kato. He is not a risk to the public and has a history of cooperating with police, Beaven said, calling this incident “a very odd circumstance.”
Although Regnier was found not guilty in connection with the stolen vehicle crash, Baniak ruled that the officer genuinely believed Regnier was a suspect when he released Kato.
The dog’s injuries were more excessive than Panamaroff’s injuries, court heard. Regnier pleaded guilty to allowing an animal to harm a service animal — a charge under the Animal Protection Act — and received a one-month concurrent sentence.
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