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"N.L. animal agency employee gets cruelty charge
Last Updated: Monday, August 30, 2010 | 1:56 PM NT

Police in St. John's said an employee with a pet-sitting company faces a charge of animal cruelty, following a customer's complaint of neglect.

CBC News reported last week on complaints by Iain Mcgaw, who paid St. John's-based Creature Care to care for his two cats during a two-month period this summer. Mcgaw returned to find the cats missing, and alleges that the cats died on the employee's watch.

Const. Jennifer Clarke said the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary's subsequent investigation led to the charge.

"They had hired her under contract, and she was sent out to care for these cats for a period time," Clarke said. "These owners who hired her were under the impression that she was doing her job and as it turns out she wasn't and subsequently been charged."

The employee, 28, was told of the charge on Sunday. She is expected to appear in provincial court in St. John's at a later date.

Creature Care owner Wendy Scammell said Friday that although the woman resigned from the company, she believed her protestations of innocence. Scammell described the employee as a dedicated and caring woman.

Clarke said the charge relates solely to the employee.

"At no point in this investigation has the company itself nor its owners been under investigation. They had no knowledge and no involvement of the actions of the employee," she said."