A Surrey woman charged with animal cruelty in connection with the seizure last February of 82 distressed animals is to return to court in two weeks.
Xin (Ivy) Zhou is scheduled for arraignment in Surrey Provincial Court on Jan. 30.
Charges against Zhou under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act were announced by the BC SPCA on Nov. 24, nine months after 67 cats, 12 dogs and three puppies were seized from a breeding/boarding facility on Surrey's Colebrook Road.
The news release announcing the charges noted a warrant was executed after the BC SPCA learned "that Zhou was failing to provide adequate care for the animals who were currently in her custody."
The seized animals, it added, required "months" of treatment in SPCA care; one cat and one kitten in "critical distress" had to be euthanized.
Zhou was last in court on Jan. 9 to consult counsel.
If convicted, she could be fined up to $75,000 and sentenced to two years in jail. A lifetime ban on owning animals is also possible.