In an unexpected twist, the justice system is designed to prevent animal guardians from appealing provincial court decisions if they can't afford the cost of the transcript proceedings.
In 2023, Marie-louise Felicia Allen (Felicia Allen) was told by a provincial court judge to participate in a trial that would end in a conviction from a charge made by Crown as a result of a BC SPCA referral. Despite the fact that Ms. Allen said that she had two weeks to prepare for the trial and submitted a medical report that the month before she had been diagnosed with pneumonia, the court ruled that she had had two months and did not dispute that the Crown had two years, and the Court refused Ms. Allen more time to prepare for the extensive trial proceedings that consisted of eight days.
Ms. Allen was also self-represented due to confusion by Legal Aid who had promised her a lawyer for the provincial court proceedings and then withdrew their offer two months before the trial commencement date when it became known that the Crown prosecutor was not seeking sentencing that included imprisonment.
Ms. Allen was convicted and filed an appeal with the B.C. Supreme Court. A two day appeal hearing was set to commence beginning on September 22, 2026. Ms. Allen had paid for the transcripts of the provincial court's rulings and could not afford the entire remaining transcript costs of approximately $6,100 .
"That's when the Crown prosecutor saw an opportunity that is often used to stop an appeal by insisting that I had to pay for the full transcript or the Court should strike the appeal. It's a kind of symbolic death sentence designed for the poor to prevent them access to the appeal justice system." says Felicia.
The appeal hearing previously scheduled for September 2026 has been adjourned. This delay follows an application by Ms. Allen for the appointment of counsel alongside a cross-application by the Crown to strike the appeal based on a failure to file the complete transcript and that the appeal has no merit. The matter will resume before a B.C. Supreme Court judge on December 18, 2026.Court Audio Trial Recordings No Substitute
A regulatory offense conviction, such as Ms. Allen's, requires that the provincial court trial proceedings are filed in written transcript format in the B.C. Supreme Court where the appeal is heard. "Although the entire provincial proceedings were audio recorded by the Court, those recordings are not permitted in an appeal in lieu of a written transcript." says Ms. Allen who then added sarcastically, "Let's kill a few hundred trees when we can access any part of a trial proceeding via audio for a Judge while in a court on appeal - in this day and age, we certainly need our trees."
The balance of $6,100 for the eight day trial transcript has been estimated by Veritext Canada, the company assigned to prepare and write provincial court transcripts.
Legal Aid also has a clause that if the animal guardian is not sentenced to imprisonment, they will not provide legal aid for an appeal to the B.C. Supreme Court.
An Unheard Of Precedent
The appeal of Ms. Allen's conviction is particularly important because it is the first time in the province that someone who has contracted a veterinarian for the treatment of an animal - Ms. Allen had a team of two veterinarians, a horse veterinarian specialist and a veterinary surgeon for her pony Bentley - has been found guilty. Traditionally, the Courts in B.C. and other provinces in the country have held that people who sought veterinary care for an animal practised due diligence and their claims were dismissed.
However, Ms. Allen's conviction was even more disturbing in that she was sentenced under the same case law as someone who did not seek veterinary care for an animal in distress. "I was sentenced by the Court the same as people who don't provide veterinary care because the crown prosecutor couldn't find any case law in the entire country where someone had been convicted and sentenced when a veterinarian was contracted to treat an animal(s)." says Ms. Allen.
In short, the provincial court outcome has set a new precedent: The BC SPCA can seize animals in veterinary care by hiring their own veterinarian to assess an animal and not consult with the treating veterinarian(s) and the Courts can now convict and sentence people who do seek veterinary care for their pets.
This means that people who abide by animal welfare laws, absent a complaint by a treating veterinarian, can be convicted and sentenced for animal cruelty. Their animal under treatment can be seized and euthanized by the BC SPCA. As absurd and unlawful as it sounds, that is what Ms. Allen's conviction has established.
A spokesperson for the BC SPGA
The Justice Loophole
There is a further obstacle for animal guardians convicted by a provincial court: If the animal guardian cannot afford the trial transcript costs the appeal to the higher court can be dismissed.
Allart v. Alec’s Automotive Machine Shop (2003) Ltd., 2014 BCSC 476 was a case in the BC Supreme Court where the counsel for the appellant, Ms. Allart, argued that the requirement to pay for transcripts of the proceedings in Provincial Court as a pre-condition to an appeal of an order of the small claims division of that court imposes a total barrier to the courts and hinders her access to justice; infringes her right of access to justice thereby offending the rule of law and the Constitution ; and inhibits her access to a superior court judge in contravention of s. 96 of the Constitution Act.
Although the Court dismissed Ms. Allart's application, the presiding judge, Madam Justice Bruce, noted at paragraph 32 of the judgment that:
[32] At the present time there is a Canada-wide effort within all levels of government and at all levels of court to make the justice system accessible to everyone. The Supreme Court of Canada’s Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters issued a report in October 2013 that stressed the importance of taking concrete steps to ensure that people who have family and civil disputes are not denied access to our court system. A key concern is the cost of litigation. Ms. Allart’s application identifies one area that could be addressed by the Provincial government as a means of precluding a denial of justice to persons with meritorious cases. I urge the government to investigate ways in which the cost of appeal transcripts could be offset where the circumstances warrant such extraordinary measures.
Who Are The Real Criminals?
Ms. Allen believes that "the real criminals are Dr. Jane Westendorf, a non-treating veterinarian who had not examined the pony during his twelve week recovery and wrote a complaint to the BC SPCA recommending euthanasia of my little pony, Bentley, without showing the written complaint to the pony's veterinary team, and her friend Dr. Amanda Gilliland hired by the BC SPCA who refused to consult with the pony's veterinary team and euthanized the pony. These two should be jailed along with the participants at the BC SPCA who interfered in the pony's treatment by his veterinary team in my view. Dr. Westendorf also practised deception on the provincial court judge with testimony that an out-of-province veterinary surgeon had recommended the expensive surgery that the provincial judge convicted me of not raising the funds for despite that after the conviction the court had fresh evidence that the surgeon had no knowledge of the pony, no xrays, no communications. An appeal court needs to review that fact. These two veterinarians have also participated in a prior animal Tribunal appeal involving Tanya Sarkozi and her two horses for the BC SPCA which led to the Tribunal refusing to return the horses to Tanya. Who knows how many other horse people these two veterinarians have made complaints about to the BC SPCA that we don't know about. Through their profession, they certainly have easy access to people with horses."
One of the outcomes from the provincial court trial proceedings is that the BC SPCA Chief Of Animal Policing, Marcie Moriarity, is under investigation by the RCMP for her alleged interference with the wording of Dr. Gilliland's veterinary form assessment of the pony submitted as evidence in the trial. (see article BC SPCA Chief Of Policing Marcie Moriarty under RCMP investigation
The tragedy is that Bentley, little miniature pony raised and cared for by Felicia for eleven years, who had progressed well, was mobile and in good spirits was euthanized although the prognosis by his veterinary team for a full recovery had been "good".