Gail Benoit in court for alleged illegal trade of dogs
A well-known puppy broker was in a Bridgewater court Monday in connection with two dogs she is accused of selling illegally in Nova Scotia.
Gail Benoit, a Bridgewater woman, is facing charges of fraud, theft under $5,000 and identity fraud.
Benoit allegedly responded to a Saint John, N.B., woman's online ad looking for someone to sit her two white boxers, Diamond and Bently.
Cassie Craft told the CBC she dropped her two dogs off in mid-November and not long after, the woman she knew as Ashley stopped responding to her emails.
Craft later learned the woman she knew as Ashley was really convicted animal abuser Gale Benoit.
In January of 2009, Benoit and Dana Bailey were found guilty of two counts of animal cruelty for selling sick and malnourished dogs.
Jenny Woods, the woman who bought the two boxer dogs from Benoit, took the stand Monday morning. She told the court she heard about the two dogs needing a home on Hank FM, a radio station in Bridgewater.
When she called the woman giving the two boxer dogs away, the woman asked for $600. Woods lowered the price to $300.
She said she later picked the dogs up in Bridgewater and paid the woman $300.
A short time later, she said she called police after seeing a notice on Kijiji for the two missing boxer dogs.
On Monday afternoon, the defence will call its witnesses in the case. It is not sure if Benoit will take the stand.
