Calgary Man Sentenced to 8 Years for Torturing and Killing Pet Rabbits

A Calgary man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after a jury found him guilty of torturing and killing multiple pet rabbits over several months, in a case the judge called “vile” and “inconceivable.”

Nicholas Weseen was convicted of 10 counts of animal cruelty under the Criminal Code for killing or injuring several rabbits by causing them unnecessary pain, injury, or suffering, and by failing to provide them suitable and adequate food, water, shelter, or care, according to a May 29 sentencing judgment by Justice Michel Bourque of Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench.

The offences occurred between October 2022 and January 2023, when Weseen was arrested and gave a voluntary interview to a police detective, in which he confessed to having committed several offences but minimized the extent and gravity of his actions, the decision said.

The victims included four rabbits with names—Smokey, Loki, Chloe, and Henry—as well as multiple unnamed rabbits, some of whose remains were found in garbage bags near Weseen’s Calgary residence.

The court heard disturbing details, including that Weseen amputated Smokey’s back right foot with pliers and confined the rabbit to a milk crate that he zip-tied to his bed, intentionally castrated Loki after the rabbit sprayed him, and handled Chloe by the scruff of her neck, causing her skin to separate from the underlying tissue.

The court saw in a video that Weseen committed numerous horrific acts to Henry, causing the rabbit to die as a result of multiple traumatic injuries, including blunt force trauma. The unnamed rabbits also suffered multiple traumatic injuries, including castration, evisceration, and fractures, the court heard.

“None of the injuries were accidental, nor the result of an underlying disease process, nor predation-type injuries from another animal,” Bourque wrote in his decision.

The court heard that Weseen reported a “long history” of drug and alcohol use, and Weseen attributed his “poor decision-making” to his methamphetamine use.

A psychiatric assessment revealed Weseen meets diagnostic criteria for an unspecified personality disorder, but Bourque said this and his drug use were treated as contextual background rather than meaningful mitigating factors.

During the psychiatric assessment, Weseen admitted to killing the rabbits out of anger and acknowledged that, while doing so, he “enjoyed feeling power over them.”

Bourque also noted that while Weseen had no prior criminal record and had behaved well in custody, those mitigating factors carried “very limited weight” given the violent nature of the crimes.

Weseen addressed the court at the end of the sentencing hearing and submitted an apology letter, which Bourque said reflected “shame, distress, and a pronounced sense of personal loss resulting from the offences and their consequences on him.” However, Bourque said he found Weseen’s address provided some evidence of regret and acknowledgment of wrongdoing but did not amount to a “strong expression of remorse,” as it was mainly directed as the impact of his conviction on his own life.

The defence sought a sentence of two years less a day to be served as a conditional sentence order, followed by three years’ probation, but the court rejected this request.

Bourque called Weseen’s actions “vile, repugnant, shocking and inconceivable,” adding that the offences he committed are “exceptionally grave.”

“The degree of violence employed against these defenceless rabbits is extreme,” Bourque wrote. “Over a period of months, Mr. Weseen deliberately inflicted serious injury, prolonged suffering, and death on multiple highly vulnerable rabbits that were entirely dependent on him for their care.”

He imposed 11 years of concurrent sentences but reduced the sentence to eight years, noting that this “properly reflects the overall gravity” of Weseen’s offences while avoiding a sentence that is “excessive.”

Bourque also issued Weseen a lifetime prohibition order barring him from ever owning, having custody or control of, or residing in the same premises as an animal or bird.

He also imposed a DNA order and lifetime weapons prohibition, which were not opposed by the defence counsel.