Brandon man showed 'stunning' levels of brutality in animal cruelty case: judge

WARNING: This story contains disturbing details about animal cruelty.

A Brandon man has been sentenced to five years in prison after he brutally killed dozens of animals in what a provincial court judge says is a "stunning" case of animal cruelty.

Jess Nichols, 30, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of animal cruelty after he killed 25 animals — most of them kittens — during a five-month period about three years ago.

The Brandon resident was first arrested in June 2022, when a roommate told police she found several dead kittens outside their home. He was taken into custody again that November, after he violated bail conditions barring him from having pets.

Police found two dead rabbits in the home's kitchen and 15 dead kittens inside a trash bag outside the residence on Nov. 15 of that year.

"The level of violence involved and the brutality with which he killed them is stunning," Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said in a decision delivered Monday in a Brandon court.

"The animals experienced pain: they suffered at the hands of Mr. Nichols. He defied a bail-ordered condition prohibiting possession of animals and re-offended," her written decision said. 

"The second incident was an escalation in seriousness in that he killed more than double the animals he'd killed in June."

Man told police he 'couldn't live' without pets

When they were first called to Nichols's home on June 7, 2022, police seized a tote container with eight dead kittens that had visible injuries, the decision says.

The roommate described Nichols, then 27, as a meth addict who had mental health problems. She told them he collected animals via internet ads, sometimes selling them for profit.

The roommate said she'd heard Nichols had acquired kittens in early June, but had not seen them at home until she found their remains.

Five months later, a group of people alerted police he may have been acquiring more animals through internet ads.

When officers went to the home on Nov. 15, they saw pet food, paw prints, three rats, and one live cat inside.

A roommate claimed Nichols wasn't at home, but police found him hiding under a blanket, the decision said. They then found the 17 dead animals.

Nichols told officers he possessed animals because he could "not live without them," admitting he'd violated the conditions for his bail, Hewitt-Michta's decision said.

He told police in a statement that when overwhelmed, he went  through "episodes," during which "he was not himself," according to the decision.

"While he portrayed himself as acting impulsively, his statement revealed a deliberate gathering of animals from advertisements on the internet with the claimed intention of helping them," Hewitt-Michta said. "He told police he was bored and wanted to get back into fostering animals."

The judge said Nichols minimized the number of animals he harmed, and lied about the cause of death of some of them. 

He told police one of the rabbits was killed in a "freak accident," and the other died the following day of a broken heart.

"The two rabbits were necropsied. Suffice it to say, neither died of a broken heart," Hewitt-Michta wrote.

"The Crown filed detailed necropsy reports specifying a spectrum of gruesome injuries, confirming the considerable force required to cause those injuries, and establishing the moderate to severe pain the animals would have suffered."

'Significant' moral culpability: judge

Nichols, who had no previous criminal record, told the author of a pre-sentence report he was using drugs around the time of both incidents, experiencing withdrawal symptoms when he killed the kittens in June.

He said that during the second incident, he was also struggling with suicidal ideation and a relationship breakdown.

Hewitt-Michta said his degree of responsibility may be reduced by mental health illness, but "his moral culpability remains significant."

"There is no evidence the accused suffers from cognitive limitations that undermined his ability to appreciate that his criminal acts were morally wrong," she said.

While Nichols pleaded guilty and demonstrated remorse, "he has been dishonest and minimized the seriousness of the offences," Hewitt-Michta wrote.

"His actions resulted in substantial harm to many animals, and the sentence imposed should aim to acknowledge the harmfulness of his actions."

Nichols was sentenced to five years in prison, less credit for time already spent in custody.

He was also given a lifetime ban from owning, having custody or control of, or living in the same place as an animal.