MOOSE JAW — Frustrated that his dog wouldn’t co-operate, Jeffrey Quinn Stuart assaulted the animal and wrapped a leash around its neck, resulting in the pooch asphyxiating and the man going to jail.
Stuart, 39, appeared in Moose Jaw Provincial Court on Dec. 16, 2025, where Judge Brian Hendrickson sentenced him to four months of incarceration. During an earlier trial, the judge found the man guilty of being responsible for an animal and causing it unnecessary pain, suffering or injury, contrary to the Criminal Code.
Stuart will spend two years on probation after his release from jail, while he must follow conditions, such as keeping the peace and being of good behaviour, reporting to a probation officer, and taking anger management and personal programming.
Furthermore, the judge prohibited him from owning, caring for or controlling any animal for three years, while he gave the former Moose Jaw resident one year to pay the $100 fine.
The Crown had asked for a 12-month jail sentence and a lifetime probation on owning animals, while the defence — which opposed any prohibition — wanted a six-month conditional sentence order, a suspended sentence with six months of probation, or a 90-day intermittent jail sentence.
After leaving jail, Stuart will live in British Columbia with his now ex-common-law wife, where they will co-parent their children.
The nine-month-old medium-sized dog, named Prince, had been living with Stuart and his wife in Moose Jaw for a few months before the incident on Sept. 15, 2023, Judge Hendrickson said.
Stuart had decided to take the animal to the veterinarian to be euthanized because, during its time in the house, it had bitten him and one of the children, damaged the kids’ toys and was uncontrollable, the judge continued.
The man first put on his motorcycle jacket to protect himself, while he then put a pillowcase over the animal’s head to control it, Hendrickson noted. Frustrated with the dog’s behaviour, Stuart punched it in the head, kicked it and threw it to the ground three times, before wrapping a leash around its neck — not attached to a collar — and dragging it to his vehicle.
The man tethered the leash to a secure object in the vehicle and drove to the vet clinic, with the leash constricting “very, very tight” around the animal’s neck, the judge said. A passenger told Stuart about the dog’s breathing troubles, but he ignored the warning and continued driving.
Reaching the animal clinic, Stuart opened the vehicle door, and Prince fell out, dead.
Hendrickson noted that a necropsy later showed that the dog died of asphyxiation, while it also had damage to its organs because of Stuart’s kicks.
“The final moments of Prince’s life must have been stressful and painful, filled with fear and considerable suffering,” the judge remarked.
Judge Hendrickson pointed out that Stuart has 54 criminal convictions, with 31 occurring when he was a youth. His first adult conviction was in 2004, while his last conviction was in October 2024. While he had no previous convictions for animal cruelty, he did have two charges of assault.
The judge — who accepted Stuart’s remorsefulness and commitment to take treatment — then reviewed several similar case-law examples. He said that animal cruelty offences are violent and serious, so sentences must focus on deterrence and denunciation, and consider the nature, pain and suffering the animal experienced.
“Animals, sentient beings that experience pain and suffering, must be treated as living victims and not chattels,” he remarked.
Judge Hendrickson noted that this case was less serious compared to other examples he reviewed, where — in one situation — a man stabbed a dog multiple times in front of his family.
Judge Hendrickson acknowledged that Stuart used “excessive force” in handling Prince. Yet, he also believed the man overreacted, while he didn’t believe the man’s actions were done out of hatred or malice, but due to anger over the dog not co-operating.
“In my view, (Stuart’s) moral blameworthiness is relatively high … ,” the judge continued, pointing out that the man was caring for Prince and that he abused his position of trust. “While there is not the level of brutality as in (another case-law example), I was satisfied Mr. Stuart used … considerable force.”
The judge added that sending Stuart to jail for four months was appropriate, based on similar case-law examples with similar sentence outcomes.
