A Chilliwack Provincial Court judge has convicted a man of killing a neighbour’s chihuahua.
In a newly released Sept. 27 decision, Judge Peter Whyte said Behrouz Rahmani Far shot and killed Bear the chihuahua.
The judge said Rahmani Far claimed that he was justified in killing the teacup Chihuahua while the Crown asserted that Rahmani Far killed the dog without a lawful purpose.
"Mr. Rahmani Far was angry at his neighbour, and frustrated by his perception that the RCMP were unable or unwilling to fix the dog problem,” Whyte said. “He had simply had enough, and determined that he would resolve the matter by taking it into his own hands.” However, the judge said, “Society does not and cannot countenance actions that fall outside the law on the basis of an individual’s belief that they have a moral, rather than legal, justification to act in a way that is otherwise unlawful.”
Rahmani Far and Glenn Kurack occupy adjacent properties in Boston Bar.
“By all accounts, the two do not get along,” Whyte said. “At the time of trial, Mr. Kurack was bound by a court-ordered condition not to have direct or indirect contact with Mr. Rahmani Far, following a conviction for assault.”
He said the conflict had gone on for five years with multiple attendances by police.
A part of the dispute between the two centred on Kurack’s dogs — two Burmese mountain dogs crossed with wolves and two small chihuahuas.
Rahmani Far kept as many as 60 chickens on his property, which he used for egg production. While they had a house, they roamed Rahmani Far’s property freely during the day.
On March 20, 2021, Kurack received an RCMP call, informing him that one of his chihuahuas had gotten out of his yard and entered Rahmani Far’s property and had killed a chicken. He said he was told the dog might have to be shot.
“It appears that Mr. Kurack did not take the call seriously,” Whyte said. “He said he was laughing with his friends at the idea that his teacup chihuahua, which he said weighed about four pounds, could pose a threat to a chicken, let alone a human.” He said he would pay for the chicken but said he saw no evidence that Bear had killed or injured any of Rahmani Far’s chickens.
Kurack also alleged Rahmani Far threatened to shoot his dogs, shot at them with a pellet gun, and threatened to hit him or the dogs with a shovel.
“Additionally, Mr. Kurack said Mr. Rahmani Far had threatened both him and a former housesitter by pointing a gun at them,” Whyte said. “Mr. Rahmani Far denied that these various events occurred, and accused Mr. Kurack of being a liar.”
Kurack said he rebuilt the fence surrounding his yard to ensure his dogs couldn’t access Rahmani Far’s property. However, on March 3, 2020, Kurack came home and found a hole in the fence.
“He looked into Mr. Rahmani Far’s yard, and saw that Bear was rolled into a ball. He had been shot in the head, and was dead,” Whyte wrote.
Rahmani Far said one of Kurack’s chihuahuas came to his yard on at least five occasions prior to the incident. On approximately 14 other occasions, he said the dogs got out of Kurack’s yard and were roaming the streets.
He said the first time a chihuahua came to his yard, it killed a black chicken and was looking for another one. He said he found the chicken dead near the chicken house, and saw the dog with yellow feathers in its mouth.
“He reported this and the subsequent incidents to the RCMP, but nothing was done,” Whyte said.
On the day in question, Rahmani Far said that he saw Bear approach one of his chickens. Fearing an attack, he went to grab his .22 calibre rifle from a nearby gun case and fired two warning shots out of his bay window in an attempt to scare Bear away.
“Bear, however was undeterred, and continued to advance toward the chicken,” Whyte said. “When the dog was between one to two feet away and ‘jumping’ toward the chicken, Mr. Rahmani Far fired, striking Bear in the head.”
He said he shot the dog to protect his family.
“He said he shot Bear ‘to bring the peace in my life,’” Whyte said. “He said he regretted having to take such a drastic measure, but felt he had no other choice.”
The judge said that, while under cross-examination, Rahmani Far said Bear had moved away from the chicken after the first shot and was not near a chicken when he fired the fatal shot.
“I do not find that the dog posed an imminent risk to Mr. Rahmani Far’s chickens,” Whyte ruled.
The judge said other options were open to Rahmani Far but he added the man did not want the dog to escape.
“The only reasonable conclusion to draw from this statement is that Mr. Rahmani Far was determined to kill the dog, irrespective of whether or not it posed an imminent threat to his chickens.”
Whyte said the defence of property defence therefore did not apply.
Whyte also rejected the defence that Rahmani Far honestly believed in a state of facts or law which, if true, would have given him the right to kill Bear.
“I find that Mr. Rahmani Far justified his actions by reference to a personally held belief that he was entitled to kill the dog because it was trespassing on his property,” the judge said.
