Trial date assigned

SYDNEY — A Dutch Brook woman facing charges under the Animal Protection Act has been assigned a date for a provincial court trial.

Erica Sudworth, 42, of Macdougall Road, is charged with four offences — two counts of allowing animals to be in distress (horses) and single counts of wilfully causing and permitting unnecessary pain to an animal (horse) and abandon or wilful neglect and failing to provide adequate food, water and shelter (a horse).

The offences are alleged to have occurred between December 2019 and February 2020 on Rudderham Road in Point Edward. In entering not guilty pleas, Sudworth was assigned a provincial court trial date of Feb. 2.

The charges were filed by an animal welfare inspector with the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change.