Photo: Contributed
WARNING: This article contains descriptions of violence against an animal.
A Penticton man will not see time behind bars after admitting to brutally killing his partner's beloved pet while drunk.
Jacob Bradley Barth, born in 2000, appeared in Penticton court Monday after pleading guilty to stabbing his former girlfriend's lizard to death and trashing her apartment.
Court heard that on December 18, 2022, Barth got into a drunken argument with his then-partner. The partner left to a neighbouring apartment to get away from Barth's erratic behaviour, but could hear from there that loud noises were coming from her home.
She assumed Barth was smashing items in a rage.
In the morning, Barth was found still in the apartment passed out, and the apartment had been trashed.
The woman then noticed the top of her pet lizard Gizmo’s cage was off.
When she got closer, it was clear Gizmo was dead. There were stab wounds all over his body and a knife left jutting out of his head.
A hand-written note left nearby, ostensibly from Barth, read: “Dumb.”
Barth had also destroyed multiple guitars, broken many decorative items in the house, and slashed two tires on the woman’s car.
Police were called. Barth eventually took responsibility for the damage and the killing of the lizard.
Barth told the court on Monday that he was drunk at the time of the incident, and admitted to having trouble regulating his alcohol use.
Judge Gregory Koturbash called Barth's actions, particularly the killing of the animal within the context of intent to emotionally hurt a domestic partner, “disturbing” and “sinister.”
“I accept that you were intoxicated when these events occurred, I accept that intoxication may lower inhibitions, but it does not create cruelty where none exists,” Koturbash said.
“It does reveal parts of who you are, and what you revealed was and is simply a concern to the court. This wasn't just a lapse in judgment, it was an insight or window into a flawed part of your character.”
He said Barth “weaponized grief,” knowing that his partner had cared deeply about Gizmo — an innocent animal reliant completely on human kindness — for many years.
“I appreciate that some might say, ‘Well, it was just a lizard,' but it wasn't. It was a pet that she had for seven years, and if you came home and there was a knife in your dog's head and your dog was dead, imagine how you would react in a situation like [that],” Koturbash said.
“It’s not about a reptile, it’s about control, cruelty, and calculated emotional harm, and in [killing Gizmo] he betrayed [his partner's] trust and revealed a very disturbing disregard for life, both animal and human.”
Crown and defence presented a joint submission request for a 180-day conditional sentence, meaning house arrest served in the community, in part given that Barth has no previous criminal record.
Koturbash expressed misgivings, but explained it is his duty to go along with a joint submission unless it is particularly egregious or endangers the interest of the public.
“The [fact that] the proposal may strike me and some members of the public as lenient does not rise to the level of being markedly unfit,” Koturbash ruled, before passing the sentence.
The first 90 days will be served under 24-hour house arrest, and the following 90 days under strict curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., both except for employment or other reasonable circumstances and with case supervisor permission.
He will also be prohibited from all alcohol or drug use except by order of a physician, ordered to pay a $100 victim surcharge fee, and ordered to attend any counselling, psychiatric or substance abuse treatment as decided by his case worker.
His conditional sentence will be followed by a 12-month probationary period.
Barth will not be allowed to obtain or live with any new animals unless the court is satisfied he is fit to take care of them.
Barth will also be prohibited from owning weapons or contacting his ex, among other standard probationary rules.
