FORT FRANCES – After hearing a man bellowing obscenities and the sound of a dog frantically yelping in pain coming from her neighbour's house, Julie Ann Fedorak took out her phone to record.
Immediately afterward, Fedorak called the Rainy River Detachment of the OPP.
“I just presented it to the police that I don't know if that dog is alive or dead. That was Wednesday (May 8) morning. No one's done nothing,” Fedorak said in an interview with Dougall Media.
"I want to fight for animal rights," said Fedorak.
Fedorak claims her neighbour wouldn’t allow the officers to enter his residence to see the dog.
After the officers left the residence, Fedorak was told by the officers that there was no ground for arrest or removal of the animal.
For a little over a year, Fedorak claims she put forward several complaints to the municipal animal control officers about the ongoing animal abuse at her neighbour’s home. Each time, her complaints were dismissed.
“I called about six times in the last three weeks. He got back to me yesterday. He told me that yard was acceptable,” said Fedorak.
When asked what she believes is unacceptable with her neighbour's yard, she stated the yard was riddled with dog poop, wooden boards with nails sticking out, and garbage everywhere.
She also noted that the animals didn’t have a proper shelter and they’re incredibly skinny.
After reaching out to municipal by-law officers, who are also described as animal control officers on Fort Frances’ municipal website, to ask why a by-law officer hasn’t been dispatched to the residence, Travis Rob, interim chief administrative officer, stated in an email, “the authority to investigate instances of animal abuse is the OPP not by-law enforcement. As such our officers will not be providing any comment on the matter.”
The Rainy River OPP detachment has yet to respond to Dougall Media’s inquiry about Fedorak’s allegation.
However, her allegations do not go unwarranted as the residence has a history of animal abuse.
Back in Sept. 2023, OPP arrested and charged a female occupant of the property with animal abuse after police were notified of a dog being physically harmed on the property.
The accused had a court date in Oct. 2023, but shortly after the individual court date, Fedorak said the animals were returned to the residence.
Fedorak has also tried what she believed was the OPP Animal Abuse Reporting, whose number can be found on the municipal website.
The number on the municipal website is Animal Welfare Services, which the Ministry of the Solicitor General runs.
After inquiring if there was an investigation into Fedorak’s neighbours, spokesperson Brent Ross said: “The ministry can confirm that Animal Welfare Services is aware of the issue and is inspecting. Given the ongoing inspection, the ministry is unable to provide further detail.”
For now, Fedorak is standing up for animal rights by taking her pleas to social media where she is posting pictures of the dogs and the video of the incident on the Fort Frances Rant and Rave Facebook page.
