Chatham-Kent Court House March 8, 2016. (Photo by Simon Crouch) Chatham-Kent Court House March 8, 2016. (Photo by Simon Crouch)
Chatham

Nicholls Disappointed With Results Of Dog Fighting Case

The MPP for Chatham-Kent-Essex says he's disappointed with results of a Tilbury dog fighting case.

A Chatham judge threw out charges laid against John Robert and Michel Gagnon in February, and now the option to appeal the decision is no more.

MPP Rick Nicholls, who had previously advocated to save the dogs from being euthanized, says it's a disappointing outcome.

"Dog fighting rings are illegal -- what they put those poor dogs through is inhumane," says Nicholls. "When I heard about the issue of the entire case being thrown out, I was extremely disappointed."

The charges against the two men were thrown because of the length of time the case circulated in the courts, something Nicholls refers to as "games that lawyers play."

"Now you get into the judicial system and you get in the games -- as far as I'm concerned, in my opinion, the games that lawyers play. In terms of bringing in more information... it went back and forth for over 30 months."

Nicholls says all people can do now is move forward and hope a case like this doesn't happen again.

"If it does, we have to find ways to expedite the case through the court system so that justice is served," he says.

As for the dogs seized in the alleged fighting ring, some have been rehabilitated thanks to a centre in Florida.

Read More Local Stories