Sask. man has 3 dogs back after 70 taken in animal cruelty investigation

A Saskatchewan manhas three of his dogs back after an animal cruelty investigation.

Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan seized 70 dogs from Terry Baker who lives on a farmnear Riceton, Sask, approximately 50 kilometres south of Regina. The protection agency says a veterinarian found problems with the dogs' food, water and shelter that hadn't been fixed after multiple inspections. Meanwhile Baker said the dogs had been treated well.

• 70 dogs seized from Regina-area farm after animal cruelty investigation

Now, Baker has three of the dogs back. The protection agency says it returned one of three so it could be with Baker's mother, and the other two were returned to him for a fee of $490.

Baker continues to track the other dogs online. He's found about half of them in new homes.

"I'm just trying to keep track of the dogs and see that they're taken care of and find good homes," he said. He doesn't see any chance of getting them back.

Animal Protection Services says the charges against Baker for animal cruelty are still pending. The maximum penalty for the charge is a $25,000 fine, 18 months in jail, and being prohibited from owning animals for as long as a judge sees fit.

"They're not telling the truth," Baker said. "The dogs and everything were healthy."

Kaley Pugh, executive director of Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan, said they're still waiting to for RCMP to lay charges.

"We've asked them to go ahead and lay charges under the Animal Protection Act and the Criminal Code and we're just waiting for them to complete all the paperwork to get that done," Pugh said.

When it comes to Baker's apparent continued affection for the dogs, Pugh said there is a difference between "affection and treating them properly."

"It's not unusual for people that have had animals seized to be concerned with what happens after the fact," she said. "But that doesn't mean that the conditions we found the animals in, and the requirements we made of him had been met. They're very much separate issues."