Accused animal hoarder released pending trial in southern Alberta

An Alberta woman facing 14 animal cruelty charges has been released from custody after undergoing a psychiatric assessment prior to trial.

April Dawn Irving, 59, pleaded guilty in March to one count of failing to appear in court and not guilty to 14 other charges related to cruelty to animals and causing or permitting an animal to be in distress.

• Accused animal hoarder pleads not guilty to 14 cruelty, distress charges

She was sentenced to 30 days for failure to appear, but had already served that time.

On Friday, a judge released Irving with several conditions, including keepingthe peace, living at a specified address, attending court when required to do so and to not have, possess or be in the primary care of any household pets, including dogs.

Applications rejected by judge

Irving's lawyer made two applications on Friday.

Bjoern Wolkmannasked the judge toslap a publication ban on the name of the person responsible for her and the address and location where she and that person will reside.

He also wanted to bar the public and media from the hearing.

Wolkmann told the court that Irving had received death threats while in custody, and that because her case had received significant media exposure in the past, she now had the right to privacy.

Both applications were rejected by Judge Derek Redman.

Charges stem from 2014 incident

Irving's involvement with the law stems from 2014, when officials seized 201 dogs from her property near Milk River, Alta. The animalswere found dehydrated, starving and chained in the yard. Five other dogs were found dead.

Irving was charged and then failed to appear in court in 2016.

• Alberta woman facing animal abuse charges found fit to stand trial

She was believed to have been living in Jamaica until appearing in Canada earlier this year. Shewas arrested in Manitoba in January and returned to Alberta to face the outstanding charges.

She recently underwent psychiatric evaluationat the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre to determine whether she was fit to stand trial.

It was determined on April 25 that she can be held criminally responsible for her actions.