Vancouver man in custody in Ontario skinned-cat case
David Reevely
Vancouver Sun
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
A Vancouver resident has been accused of helping skin a cat alive in a case that has outraged animal-rights activists in Ontario.
Two men convicted in the case protested that they were making an art film when they strangled and stabbed the cat, named Kensington, in a Toronto apartment in May, 2001.
Two Toronto detectives left Vancouver on Tuesday with a third man, Matthew Kaczorowski, 21, in custody; the statute of limitations on animal cruelty has run out, so he's to be charged today with mischief.
Kaczorowski, a former squeegee kid in Toronto, came west to ply his trade and was identified with the help of the Vancouver police and a worker at the Vancouver SPCA, said Toronto Detective Gordon Scott.
"This was community policing at its best," Scott said in an interview. "There's this woman, Katie Woodward [in Ontario], who wouldn't let the story go. She has a Web site, findmatt.org, where she had a link to a picture of him on the Crimestoppers Web site, and a link to me as well."
Scott said the SPCA worker -- whose name he wouldn't reveal -- spotted Kaczorowski squeegeeing in Vancouver recently, and contacted Scott and fellow detective John Margetson.
"We got in touch with the Vancouver police and they did some work on their end. They felt it was him and they sent me pictures and I thought it was him.
"So we swore out a warrant and convinced the Crown attorney to send us out on a plane. We located him, executed a search warrant at his home, and brought him back with us," Scott said.
He said that in Kaczorowski's home, he and Margetson found clothing they believe Kaczorowski was wearing when the cat-skinning video was shot.
Two other Torontonians, 22-year-old Jessie Power and 25-year-old Andrew Wennekers, have already been convicted.
Â[emoji]169[/emoji] Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun
David Reevely
Vancouver Sun
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
A Vancouver resident has been accused of helping skin a cat alive in a case that has outraged animal-rights activists in Ontario.
Two men convicted in the case protested that they were making an art film when they strangled and stabbed the cat, named Kensington, in a Toronto apartment in May, 2001.
Two Toronto detectives left Vancouver on Tuesday with a third man, Matthew Kaczorowski, 21, in custody; the statute of limitations on animal cruelty has run out, so he's to be charged today with mischief.
Kaczorowski, a former squeegee kid in Toronto, came west to ply his trade and was identified with the help of the Vancouver police and a worker at the Vancouver SPCA, said Toronto Detective Gordon Scott.
"This was community policing at its best," Scott said in an interview. "There's this woman, Katie Woodward [in Ontario], who wouldn't let the story go. She has a Web site, findmatt.org, where she had a link to a picture of him on the Crimestoppers Web site, and a link to me as well."
Scott said the SPCA worker -- whose name he wouldn't reveal -- spotted Kaczorowski squeegeeing in Vancouver recently, and contacted Scott and fellow detective John Margetson.
"We got in touch with the Vancouver police and they did some work on their end. They felt it was him and they sent me pictures and I thought it was him.
"So we swore out a warrant and convinced the Crown attorney to send us out on a plane. We located him, executed a search warrant at his home, and brought him back with us," Scott said.
He said that in Kaczorowski's home, he and Margetson found clothing they believe Kaczorowski was wearing when the cat-skinning video was shot.
Two other Torontonians, 22-year-old Jessie Power and 25-year-old Andrew Wennekers, have already been convicted.
Â[emoji]169[/emoji] Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun