Voices for the Innocent Society

28/12/2023

POINTE CLAIRE - MISSING CATS - I hate to post during the holidays but it's important.

It's been called to my attention that there is an ever increased number of missing cats in Pointe Claire, in particular the region that Barbara Lisbona used to live, which is the Bras D'or and Delmar area. Though she now lives in Ile Perrot, she frequents Pointe Claire and has been spotted in her old neighborhood recently.

Please keep a close eye on your cats!

25/12/2023

Wishing everyone a very happy holiday season! Have fun, be safe and enjoy. ❤. Cheers to a wonderful 2024 filled with happiness, health and prosperity. 🥰😍🥰😍

18/12/2023

It's exactly 10 years today when I ventured into the Animal Rescue Network, undercover, when it was then led by the founder, Barbara Lisbona. The neglect and cruelty that I witnessed are forever ingrained in my mind.

Little did I know that this would lead to many years of fighting and rallying along with others to save these animals and improve their lives. MAPAQ did not do their job at that time so we brought our cause to the media.

We reached out to PostMedia Network, which resulted in a cover story and 2 inside pages in the Montreal Gazette. We then spent 5 years in court defending our name after being sued for Defamation of Character by Barbara. It was well worth the fight, as the ARN ousted Barbara Lisbona and set up a new board of directors.

In 2018, while we were still defending ourselves in court, MAPAQ seized over 133 animals from her house and a secret location and more were seized from her home in 2021. She was also found guilty of breaking & entering with the intent of stealing cats out of someone's home.

Justice for us was finally served as she was found guilty of an abusive (SLAPP) suit. We won all of our legal fees back, as well as damages. Darryl and I gave some of the proceeds to other wonderful rescues and bought ourselves a beautiful fence for our backyard. :-)

These have been 10 long years of dealing with Barbara Lisbona's hoarding of hundreds of animals in her home, and at multiple secret locations. Barbara Lisbona was found guilty of infractions to the animal welfare law and she is not permitted to act as rescue and is allowed to own only 3 specific cats and her dog.

As I reflect back on that freezing winter day, 10 years ago and the journey it has taken me and the others on, I would do it all over again, thought it was exhausting at times.

Those interested can read the Gazette article here -https://www.pressreader.com/search?query=%22barbara%20lisbona%22&in=ALL&date=Anytime&hideSimilar=0&type=2&state=2&fbclid=IwAR2Vr2XdGYTx0TMSiACiG9sQOiQQwSzsCIIBFd0uzI1gMQclETC9VAIzGX8

Press release summing things up here:

https://www.einpresswire.com/article/536484247/former-founder-of-montreal-s-animal-rescue-network-arn-barbara-lisbona-loses-defamation-case-ruled-a-slapp-suit

Thank you for listening to my story marking my 10 year milestone in the fight for these innocent beings.

Defamation Suit Dismissed - Momentous victory for Defendants as their claim for moral damages, punitive damages, and legal costs have been granted by the court.

03/05/2023

Please beware Living on Ile Perrot Island Community - LOST-FOUND PETS/Animaux Perdu-trouve(VAUDREUIL,ILE PERROT AND WEST OF THAT), West Island Pets

West Island Friends - PLEASE BEWARE
There are multiple new reports of missing cats in Ile Perrot right nearby where Barbara Lisbona lives, including several that are under a 2 minute walk from her home.

There is a court order stipulating that she is not permitted to act as a 'rescuer' or own cats (except for 3 specific ones) for 10 years. She was already found in violation of that order a little over 1 year ago.

In 2018, she had over 133 cats seized by MAPAQ. Last year she had more cats seized even though she had a court order forbidden her from continuing to hoard.
She is a predator so please be aware.
Please share!

Amis de l'Ouest-de-l'Île - ATTENTION SVP!
Il y a plusieurs nouveaux rapports de chats disparus sur l'Ile Perrot juste à côté de l'endroit où vit Barbara Lisbona, dont plusieurs à moins de 2 minutes à pied de chez elle.

Il y a une ordonnance du tribunal stipulant qu'elle n'est pas autorisée à agir en tant que "sauveteur" ou à posséder des chats (sauf 3 chats spécifiques) pendant 10 ans. Elle a déjà été trouvée en violation de cette ordonnance il y a un peu plus d'un an.

En 2018, plus de 133 chats ont été saisis par le MAPAQ. L'année dernière, elle a fait saisir d'autres chats, même si une ordonnance du tribunal lui interdisait de continuer à en accumuler (Syndrome de Noé).

C'est une prédatrice, soyez-en conscient.

Partagez SVP!

This page is meant to inform animal lovers as to the dangers of animal warehousing, institutional hoa

12/11/2022

The Journal de Montreal did a short profile on animal hoarder Barbara Lisbona that came out last night. The piece called her one of the Worst Offenders of Animal Abuse yet the piece itself had very little meat to it compared to the other profiles written by the same journalist and I am not surprised. There were some inaccuracies as well in the little piece but again, I am not surprised.

For example, more than 15 cats were seized last December and 133 cats seized in 2018. For another, the article focuses on one vet who wrote a short letter of support, as she tried to get her seized cats back. The article mentions this but does not mention the mountains of on the record evidence and testimony by Montreal vets, vet techs, volunteers and others who have spoke on record about the abuse.

It fails to describe the horrible suffering and state of the animals when seized and that Barbara is in violation of the court order by continuing to compulsively collect cats. It also fails to mention that she was charged and found guilty of breaking and entering as she sought to steal cats.

This story had good potential to highlight (in an unbiased way) the very serious world of animal hoarding right here in our own backyard. It failed greatly in that capacity but at least her name is out there again as an animal abuser and hopefully this will help even one person to learn about her and not bring any animals to Barbara Lisbona. I will have more to say on this.

Une Montréalaise de 73 ans accumulait des dizaines de chats dans des appartements, des entrepôts et dans sa maison.

20/06/2022

UPDATE - Barbara Lisbona's charge of Breaking & Entering - Dossier 760-01-095935-190.

I've been meaning to give an update on this. As some of you are aware, Barbara Lisbona broke into the residence of Diane Levesque (owner of Balto Dog Hotel) in 2019 and robbed between 10 to 15 cats. The Surete du Quebec pressed charges . I won't rehash the entire story (you can read backstory in attached images) but after 2 warrants for her arrest, Barbara was found guilty.

Barbara was arrested on February 26, 2020 and escorted by a Constable in front of a judge at the Valleyfield Court House.

VERDICT
On May 5, 2021, Barbara Lisbona pled guilty to the charges and the court found her guilty as charged. She was given a conditional sentence of 1 year probation; upon which (for good behaviour) her criminal record would be dropped. She also had to make a $500 donation to an organization of her choice, which she chose to be her friend's rescue, Refuge Magoo.

15/04/2022

Barbara Lisbona has been active in several community groups. Please beware and do not give her any animals.

20/03/2022

IMPORTANT - Pet lovers and Rescuers - PLEASE SHARE

Please Beware! Barbara Lisbona was found guilty by MAPAQ for violating animal welfare laws after MAPAQ seized over 133 cats from her, found in poor condition. Over 30 of them had to be euthanized for humanitarian reasons.

The court ruling in 2021 forbids her to own more than 3 specific cats and her dog. I have reason to believe that in December up to 30 cats were again seized by MAPAQ as she was found in violation of the court order. These cats were found in her residence. Many of these were feral and some held in cages for over 6 months.

Under this court order, she is also forbidden to "rescue" or work at a rescue.

It has been called to my attention that Barbara is continuing to violate this court order and is, in fact, harassing people and trying to take their cats from them under the guise that they appear ill and she will bring them to the vet. Most recently, this has taken place in Chateauguay.

In addition, Barbara is reaching out to rescues to post animals for her available for adoption. PLEASE do not give Barbara Lisbona any animals and do not post animals on her behalf.

As clearly stated in a court order, she is an animal hoarder.
Barbara goes under various names - Barbara Lisbona, Barbara Yankofsky, Michaela Cane and Barbara Jackentoska.

Barbara has in the past also been charged with breaking and entering and had 2 warrants out for her arrest.

People need to know NOT to bring innocent animals to her nor try to do her any favours by posting to their rescue sites.

Please beware and please share.

13/01/2022

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!!!

2 years ago around this time, 6 of us finally had our day in court, defending ourselves against charges of Defamation of Character by renowned animal hoarder, Barbara Lisbona. The case dragged on for over 5 years and we spent over $240,000 collectively on court costs. Postmedia Network (Montreal Gazette/National Post) was also sued but the case was previously dropped.

Many of my friends have followed the story and know that we were found not guilty of the charges and that Barbara Lisbona was found guilty of an abusive /SLAPP suit, designed to stifle public debate and prevent people, including the press from reporting her many infractions against the Animal Welfare Act. The case caused us a great deal of heartache and anxiety throughout the years. But it was worth every amount of pain.
While we won our case and collected damages and court costs, I'm disheartened as the cat hoarding continues.

To mark a few highlights for those who are interested:
2012/2013 - I was the President of PetitsPawz Cat Refuge. Many people came to me complaining about Barbara Lisbona's hoarding of cats which ended up to be over 800 cats across multiple locations. I went into one of her "shelters" to see for myself and the conditions were horrendous. I made multiple complaints to MAPAQ with photos and they were not surprisingly largely unresponsive (to follow). I established the Voices for the Innocent page, as I felt MAPAQ was not doing its job.

2015 - Barbara was being evicted from one of her secret locations by her landlord which housed over 130 of her distressed and neglected cats. We intercepted and took pictures, gathered evidence and sent them to the press. The Montreal Gazette followed up and did an investigation of their own and published a headline story (front page and two inside pages).
Shortly after we were sued by Barbara. We hired lawyers. Many stupidities and delays ensued, which we and our lawyers knew were abusive tactics. But we had to keep going. At one point, Barbara's lawyers contacted us to make a settlement. We refused.

At this time, Barbara was ousted from her position of President of the 'rescue' she founded, 'Animal Rescue Network', a place where she hoarded hundreds of animals under the guise of a rescue.

2018 - MAPAQ finally did their job and seized over 133 cats, many in very bad condition, from her Pointe Claire residence and a secret location; a warehouse in Lachine. Some cats had to be euthanized for humanitarian reasons and others were adopted.
At this point we tried to get our lawsuit dropped but the judge felt there was too much information to make a decision so quickly and rejected our request.

In the midst of all this, Barbara was dropped by several lawyers, one of which sued her for nonpayment.

2019 - Barbara has 2 warrants for her arrest for breaking and entering/stealing cats from a home. A plea bargain was later worked out by the court.

2020 - THE COURT RULED THAT BARBARA LISBONA WAS GUILTY OF ANIMAL WELFARE INFRACTIONS AND COULD NOT RUN A RESCUE, VOLUNTEER OR OWN MORE THAN 3 SPECIFIC CATS.

She was found in violation of this ruling in December 2022. Over 25 cats were reportedly seized.

2021 - January - After a multitude of delays, we were due to have our day in court ( 7 days in fact). But it was not easy to get there. Barbara attempted to avoid court at all costs.

- She gave a fake name when a bailiff delivered documents, pretending Barbara did not live there

- She feigned illness, going to 2 hospitals in an attempt to get a doctor's note to get out of court (failed).

- She expressed to several people that she would possibly attempt to get hit by a car strategically to avoid court

- Among many other tactics

On the first day of court, she sent the judge erratic, nonsensical emails demanding that our court case be halted.

Fortunately, the judge did not buy these tactics and we had our day in court. Initially, this was to be a 7-day case, but it was cut short because Barbara failed to show. However, we had a full 3 days in court where we presented our case with witnesses. I cannot express to you the feelings we all had to be able to tell the story, defend ourselves and also expose the abuse... and most importantly be listened to and vindicated.

Our evidence was powerful and told a story of ongoing abuse of animals, people and the justice system.

PARTING WORDS
To all these many hundreds of souls who died by her hand, I take comfort in knowing you are all in heaven and at peace. I also know that our actions collectively stopped Barbara Lisbona from continuing to operate in the large capacity that she was hoarding animals.

What is very disheartening is the fact that she is likely still hoarding animals because the recidivism rate for animal hoarding is 99%.

I thank all my friends for your support.

29/10/2021

22/07/2021

Sadly this is a reality. Animal hoarding is a serious problem that is not acknowledged and largely misunderstood. Many hoarders steal cats off the street never to be found again. In this case, the family was lucky.

When the cats from Barbara Lisbona were seized from her Pointe Claire home and her Lachine warehouse, many had microchips and there was a multitude of cats missing in very close proximity of her house.

This is why communities need to be made aware.

On Thursday, the Cleveland APL came to that neighbor’s home and rescued 11 cats that were living in filthy conditions.

21/07/2021

Rescue Hoarding is a serious problem, on a global scale. There are similarities here - Many animals have suffered and died under Barbara Lisbona's care. She was found guilty but unlike this case, she got off easy. No jail time for animal cruelty here in Quebec.

A self-styled pet rescuer has been sentenced to 364 days in jail for animal cruelty after hoarding cats and allowing them to starve inside her apartment in South Florida.

19/07/2021

Eyewitness testimony of inside of Barbara Lisbona's home. No words...

22/06/2021

NEW - Again, I feel the need to make this known. Barbara Lisbona was recently found guilty of infractions to the Animal Welfare Act and she is not permitted to act as a rescue.

She is posting incessantly on different community and animal-oriented pages. This must be reported. If anyone sees her postings, please report to the admins to have her removed.

Below you will see yet another court document from MAPAQ - When they inspected and seized cats from the secret warehouse in Lachine where over 80 cats were housed, they found:

- Injured animals who had signs of illness and suffering
- Diarrhea and vomit present
- Cat with a very infected and inflamed ear
- Cat with eyes completely shut
- Cats with respiratory issues
- Bodily fluids on the floor mixed with blood
- Feline with kittens unable to isolate them from the other cats
- Inadequate ventilation
- An accumulation of excrement, vomit, and urine

Please keep an eye out and report any postings from Barbara Lisbona. Please do not engage with her.

20/06/2021

Barbara Lisbona has been posting on many animal-related FB pages recently. She is positioning herself as an authority and rescuer, which she is certainly not. Innocent people may entrust her with the care of animals in need.

Les détails en français sont dans le document ci-joint.

Approximately 133 cats were seized from Barbara Lisbona's residence and secret warehouse. To those who question, Barbara claims that the animals were seized due to a lack of permit.

It was far more serious than a lack of permit. There were 7 counts of animal cruelty. She was found guilty and is allowed a total of 3 cats and her 1 dog. She is not permitted to conduct any animal rescue.

In one examination by a neutral vet of 26 of these seized cats, 69% had serious dental issues. Eye infections were found in 42% of these cats, 62% had ear mites and ringworm.

One cat had a tumour the size of a golf ball on his a**l gland and 23% were underweight and dehydrated. 12% had neurological disorders. In examinations of the others, there were similar findings.

For many years hundreds and hundreds of cats suffered in silence, yet this woman is posting on groups as a concerned citizen and trusted rescuer. Please do not trust her. If people see her posting, please alert the admins.

05/05/2021

Exhibit From Our Lawsuit - Audio - "Under the Cover of Night"

This is an audio clip of Barbara Lisbona making arrangements to move over 100 cats from the Chapleau location (one of her secret locations) following her notice of eviction for failure to pay and filthy conditions.

At this point, she had 2 days to move them. She was planning to house 60 to 70 in someone's basement, more in her home and others at the main ARN location.

This is just a small clip that shows the secretiveness as she plans the transfer. She had expressed the fact in an earlier conversation that some of the cats may not survive the transfer.

Transparency is key. This is not rescue. Despite what some rescue hoarders may say, legitimate rescues do not behave in this manner.

29/04/2021

For those who have asked me about Rescue Hoarding and how it comes to be, this is an important read. It tells the story of how rescue hoarding can evolve from good intentions to a power trip. All about the power...These 'rescuers' turn into exploiters.

A rescue hoarder is the complete opposite of a true rescue organization. Thankfully we have many great rescues here in Quebec. True rescuers know their boundaries and are careful not to take in more than they can help.

Those prone to rescue hoarding, however, thrive on praise and ego.

"To be known as a rescuer is to receive constant praise: “You’re a saint for what you do! You’re an angel!” The act of rescuing is one of awesome power. For each animal saved, it’s the rescuer who stood between life and death. It takes being strong and self-aware, with good boundaries, other interests, and a network of sane friends, to avoid succumbing to the despair or getting drunk on the power.

That’s where the trouble can start."

This story of Kimi Peck is eerily similar to the person that we were sued by. It is well-written with a glimpse into the mind of a 'Rescue/Exploiter Hoarder'.Kimi is litigious, manipulative, entitled, lacking empathy, and condescending.

She also has a superficial charm and is cunning, making it difficult for people to know that she is a rescue hoarder and not a proper organization.

This is why I speak out. Rescue hoarding is a disguised form of animal cruelty that can cause years of prolonged suffering.

It's rampant here in Quebec and beyond. People need to be aware of this little-understood condition.

Kimi Peck was good at taking in stray and unwanted dogs that were at risk of being euthanized in public shelters. How she cared for the canines was another matter. After years of accusations, she’s on trial for animal cruelty

26/04/2021