A trial is underway today for a Quesnel woman who is accused of breaching her probation conditions on an animal cruelty conviction.

25-year old Catherine Adams is representing herself in court and has pled not guilty to the charge.

Adams and her mother Karin were convicted of animal cruelty following an SPCA investigation in Houston back in 2014.

They were sentenced in Smithers in October of 2015 and received a six-month conditional sentence and three years probation.

Protestors gather outside of Quesnel courthouse as Catherine Adams makes a court appearance. -Photo: D Schultz, MyCaribooNow

Conditions of that sentence included a ban on owning or being in the custody of animals.

Adams was arrested again in Quesnel in July of 2018 after the SPCA says it seized 16 dogs from a rural property.

The SPCA says the animals were in distress and being kept in crates that were too small for their size in a poorly ventilated area, with little or no access to water and on feces and urine soaked matting.

Adams and her mother Karin were met by protesters on their way into court.

Troy Giesbrecht is one of the organizers.

Here is what she is hoping the outcome of today’s proceedings will be…

“That Catherine gets convicted and winds up in jail, that people realize that laws have to be changed for animals. And to show the courts that we don’t want to stand for the pats on the back of the hand that these people are getting. They do not respect the law, that’s why Catherine is here today, violation of probation, and they need to recognize that these two and the people that they work with are not going to stop.”

Several of the protesters had placards reading “Stop Animal Abuse and Cruelty”, “Justice for the Stolen Ones”, and “Animals Abusers Mock Our Justice System” to name a few.