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> Dog near death after student allegedly starves it

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor

 

hree animal cruelty
charges have been laid
against Yu Lin, a 24-year-old
former Coquitlam resident
and SFU student who allegedly
abandoned his starved pet
Husky, Willow, in Maple Ridge.
While the SPCA had

identified Lin in their
investigation shortly after
Willow was found in January
2015, charges have only
recently been laid. The Crown
has been working through
a large number of animal
cruelty charges and cases.
“This wasn’t a situation
of finances, intelligence, and
ability. It’s just neglect and
cruelty,” said Marcie Moriarty

of the BC SCPA to CTV. “He has
clearly demonstrated a lack of
ability to care for an animal.”
Lin will make his first
court appearance on March 1.
Should Lin be convicted,
he will likely receive a lifetime
ban from owning animals,
a fine of up to $75,000, and
two years imprisonment.
Willow first made local
headlines when she was

Coquitlam student charged with animal cruelty

found abandoned in Maple
Ridge last January. She was
u kilograms underweight
and struggling to walk.

In an interview with Maple
Ridge News, Lorie Chortyk of the
local SPCA described Willow as:
“assessed with a score of ‘one’ on
the canine body conditioning
scale of one to nine, meaning that
she was severely malnourished.”

Willow had been found

Image via huffpost.com

with gravel in her digestive tract,

which veterinarians suspected

was eaten by Willow to try to stay

alive. She could not lie down due

to pain caused by the gravel.
Thankfully, Willow was

able to make a speedy and

full recovery within six weeks,

and was adopted by a Maple

Ridge family last March.

Fentanyl drug bust includes New West townhouse

> Millions of dollars’ worth of property seized

Aaron Guillen
Staff Reporter

 

ack in the fall of 2014, the

Vancouver Police Department
(VPD) had suspicions of drug
trafficking to residents in the
Downtown’s Eastside with
potential shipping to Vancouver
Island and Alberta, and began an
investigation known as Project
Trooper. Little did they know
that the seven month-long
investigation would open up a
treasure trove of drugs, guns,
and money. Thanks to 1 search
warrants spanning multiple cities
from Vancouver to Maple Ridge,
the investigators were able to
begin to place the pieces of the
puzzle together.

By April 2015, the VPD had
finally cracked the case and
brought a sophisticated drug
distribution network to its knees.

Nearly 10 months later,

charges have been placed against
6 people. The accused, all in their
30s and 4os, each hold multiple
counts of possession for the
purpose of trafficking, with four
of them charged for possession of
a restricted or prohibited weapon
with access to ammunition
without a license.

The items seized included
“$575,000 in cash, 19 kilograms
of cocaine, 1.7 kilograms
of heroin, 12.5 kilograms of
methamphetamine, 23,763
fentanyl pills, 228 kilograms
of phenacetin, 6 handguns, 2
shotguns, 4 rifles, 8 vehicles (4
with hidden compartments), and
an estimated $3.78 million in
property including a Downtown
Eastside apartment building, a
New Westminster townhouse,
and a Coquitlam home,”
according to the VPD’s media
release.

Last year, a group of
provincial health organizations,

alongside the VPD, rolled out

an awareness campaign focused
on the dangers of fentanyl. In

an effort to educate those who
know little to none about the
drug, police simply want users to
become more cautious with their
suppliers and the possibility of
lethal doses.

“Project Trooper is another
example of the alliance between
law enforcement agencies in the
Lower Mainland,” said Vancouver
Police Superintendent Mike
Porteous in a press release. “We
have a common goal, and that is
to target violent and dangerous
criminals and take them off the
street.”

Ona similar note, VPD
officials have been notified of
high numbers of drug overdoses
since the end of January. Police
have counted 1 deaths due to
overdoses in the Downtown’s
Eastside neighbourhood in the
past 16 days preceding February

 

5, well above the average of
3 deaths a week. Fentany] is
suspected to be the cause.
Thanks to the initiative
KnowYourSource.org, civilians
have no excuse to be unaware of
the deadly consequences. The
symptoms of a fentanyl overdose

Image via winnipegfreepress.com

are sleepiness, slow heartbeat,
shallow breathing, clammy skin,
and trouble walking and/or
talking. If a person chooses to use
fentanyl, the organization advises
the user to be sure to use only a
small amount and never to do it
alone.