A young Carcross-Tagish First Nation man is hoping to get counselling after pleading guilty to seriously injuring a puppy. In territorial court in Whitehorse last Friday, Kashies James, 22, pled guilty to one count of willfully maiming a dog.

He also pled guilty to failing to attend a court appearance and reporting to a bail supervisor in relation to the incident.

Judge Nancy Orr sentenced James to a total of 70 days’ jail time for the charges minus 45 days’ credit for time served.

James will also be on probation for 12 months after his release, with conditions including counselling.

Defence lawyer Amy Steele told the court the incident made James realize he needs help to address trauma he’s experienced and resulting addictions issues.

“It’s obviously a very disturbing offence; I think Mr. James himself would agree himself that it’s very disturbing,” Steele said.

According to the admitted facts, on the evening Aug. 15, 2017 James had shown up at the home of his teenaged sister in Carcross, intoxicated and demanding the repayment of money he had loaned her.

They began arguing, and at one point, James grabbed her eight-week-old puppy and threatened to break its neck.

His sister and a friend said they didn’t think he was serious and walked down the road away from him.

When they returned 10 to 15 minutes later, they found the puppy laying on the ground alive but having difficulty breathing and with an injury to its neck.

The friend claimed James admitted to throwing the dog.

The animal was then “put out of its misery” with several blows to the head.

Due to how the puppy died, a necropsy was unable to determine which of its injuries had been caused by James.

But it did confirm the puppy’s neck had been broken and it would have been in respiratory distress before it died.

On Oct. 3, James failed to appear at a scheduled court appearance in relation to the incident.

After being released from custody on Oct. 13, he also failed to make weekly visits to a bail supervisor between Oct. 31 and Nov. 22 as required.

Steele said James has no memory of hurting the dog, as he was intoxicated on drugs and alcohol. But she noted he takes responsibility for his actions and believes he should be punished.

“He doesn’t understand why he would’ve done such a thing,” she said.

“He’s upset also because he loves dogs; he’s essentially shocked he would’ve done that to a puppy.”

As for the latter two charges, Steele said James did not have legal representation at the time and was scared.

“I think it’s safe to say it’s been kind of hanging heavily over him for months,” she said.

Steele noted that James has experienced “severe trauma” in his life, the details of which he was not comfortable sharing in open court.

James did allow her to share that his mother had attended residential school and had died when he was young. He also lost a close family member who was like a brother to him.

Growing up, he lived with different relatives and in foster care, often running away and hitchhiking back to Carcross.

A Carcross-Tagish First Nation elder also confirmed to Steele that James has had a difficult life. The elder described him as a “good man with a good heart,” saying he hoped the court had compassion.

Steele said James has acknowledged he uses substances to deal with the pain from what he’s experienced.

But she also noted that he enjoys providing food, chopping wood and doing yard work for single mothers and elders in his community.

As well, he hopes to run a cultural camp one day to help youth get back to their roots, she said.

Steele argued that James should get time served for the offences, saying more jail time would not be rehabilitative. She noted James said additional jail time would make him “feel more worthless and like nothing.”

Community work should be part of his sentence, Steele added, as he wants to contribute positively to his community. And she said probation with counselling would help James address issues in his life.

Crown prosecutor Amy Porteous, however, argued that a period of incarceration of four to five months would be appropriate for the charges.

She told the court the incident was an act of violence against a small helpless animal, calling it “sadistic” and “heinous behaviour.

“It’s simply a violent and terrible offence on a creature that could not effectively defend itself,” she said.

She added the offence had “shades of extortion,” and said it was “troubling” that James used an animal as a means of getting his way.

She also noted James has a criminal record that includes violent offences. And she said the sentence should be a deterrence to him and others from committing this type of crime.

But Porteous did note that James pleading guilty was a mitigating factor.

While she believed the Crown would have been able to prove its case, she said the evidence was largely circumstantial, and it wouldn’t have been a “slam dunk”.

Porteous also said rehabilitation should be an important factor in James’ sentence.

“It’s important that Mr. James get counselling because for anyone to think that this is an appropriate way to deal with a dispute towards a family member is highly concerning and needs to get stopped,” she said.

Judge Orr noted the sentence must reflect societal views on this type of crime and send the message that it will incur consequences.

“Our society will not tolerate individuals that decide that they’re just going to do what they want to some poor defenceless animal because it happens to be there,” she said.

But she said a mitigating factor was that James had pled guilty. And she noted the difficulties James has experienced in his life and that he is a young man with the “best part of his future ahead of him.

“The one positive out of all of this that Mr. James now acknowledges that he needs to get some help that he needs to deal with the issues that have caused him some great difficulty in his life,” she said.

Along with the sentence, Judge Orr mandated that James must not own, have control or custody, nor live with an animal while he is on probation

He must also get treatment for substance and alcohol misuse and anger management, along with completing 25 hours of community service.