Trevor (Tre) Smith (born December 10, 1970) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former television personality, best known for his role in the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series '' U8TV: The Lofters''."The Lofty Airs Of U8TV"
chartattack.com, January 1, 2001. Prior to appearing on ''The Lofters'', Smith was a child actor, whose credits included regular roles in the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

shows ''

Spirit Bay ''Spirit Bay'' was an aboriginal family television show of 13 half-hour episodes that aired on CBC Television and TVOntario from 1982 to 1987. The show focuses on the lives of townsfolk on an Ojibwe reservation town near MacDiarmid, Ontario. Here, ...

'' and '' 9B''. He later made guest appearances on '' My Secret Identity'', ''

The Rez ''The Rez'' is a Canadian drama television series, which aired on CBC Television from 1996 to 1998. Bruce McDonald and Norman Jewison were executive producers of the series, which chronicled life in an Ojibway community. The series is based o ...

'', '' Earth: Final Conflict'' and '' Kung Fu: The Legend Continues'' and dozens of other movies and television shows; while appearing on ''The Lofters'', he was also one of the hosts, along with Arisa Cox and

Jennifer Hedger Jennifer Frances Hedger (born September 18, 1975 in London, Ontario) is a Canadian television personality and the co-host of TSN's nightly sports news program '' SportsCentre''. Broadcasting career Hedger's first on-air experiences were with the ...

, of the associated series ''U8 on Film''. He was also a contender for the role of

Brian Kinney Brian A. Kinney is a fictional character from the American/Canadian Showtime television series '' Queer as Folk'', a drama about the lives of a group of gay men and women living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The character was created by Ron Cowen an ...

on '' Queer as Folk'', which eventually went to

Gale Harold Gale Morgan Harold III (born July 10, 1969) is an American actor, known for his leading and recurring roles on '' Queer as Folk'', '' Deadwood'', ''Desperate Housewives'', ''Grey's Anatomy'', ''The Secret Circle'' and '' Defiance''. He also starre ...

; however, Smith did appear in a minor role in an early episode. Smith later worked as the lead animal cruelty investigator for the

Toronto Humane Society Toronto Humane Society is a Toronto charity that operates animal shelters and animal rescue operations. It was founded in 1887 by John J. Kelso dedicated to promote both children's aid and the humane treatment of animals. Since 1891, the society ...

, frequently appearing in this role as a regular guest on CP24's ''Animal Housecalls''."Did dog rescuer go too far?"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', August 16, 2007. In August 2007, he made national headlines when he smashed open the window of a locked car to rescue a dog who was in imminent danger of dying from

heat exhaustion Heat exhaustion is a severe form of heat illness. It is a medical emergency. Heat exhaustion is caused by the loss of water and electrolytes through sweating. The United States Department of Labor makes the following recommendation, "Heat illness ...

. Smith then handcuffed the dog's owner to the car, and the owner was subsequently beaten by enraged onlookers. Smith became a hero to

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

activists across Canada, despite it resulting in him being disciplined by the

Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society (Ontario SPCA) is a registered Canadian charity focused on animal protection and animal advocacy. The Ontario SPCA provides services in partnership with communities including provincial animal transferiAdoptan ...

. The OSPCA later suspended the organization's credentials in 2009 due to concerns around the leadership of then-THS president Tim Trow; Smith was briefly arrested in early 2010 for allegedly continuing to investigate animal cruelty claims despite the society's suspension. Frank Addario, a lawyer for the Humane Society, characterized Smith's arrest as unwarranted grandstanding by the OSPCA,"THS agent leashed"
''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...

'', January 27, 2010. noting that before arresting Smith, the OSPCA had taken the unprecedented and potentially unethical step of issuing a press release to the media announcing that they planned to arrest him, including suggestions for where the media might want to position themselves to get the best pictures of the arrest. All of the charges against Humane Society officers and staff were eventually dropped,"Toronto Humane Society charges dropped"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

, August 16, 2010 and were eventually revealed to stem entirely from the OSPCA's opposition to THS being run as a

no-kill shelter A no-kill shelter is an animal shelter that does not kill healthy or treatable animals even when the shelter is full, reserving euthanasia for terminally ill animals or those considered dangerous to public safety. A no-kill shelter uses many strat ...

rather than any actual evidence of mismanagement."Shedding light on the OSPCA-Toronto Humane Society debacle". ''

'', January 10, 2011 Smith has continued to make occasional guest appearances as an actor, including credits on '' The Border'', '' Fringe'', '' The Listener'', ''

The Ron James Show ''The Ron James Show'' is a Canadian television comedy show, which debuted on CBC Television on September 25, 2009. Starring comedian Ron James, the show intersperses filmed and stage sketches with clips of James performing his stand-up routin ...

'', '' Lost Girl'' and ''

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Trevor 1970 births Living people Canadian male child actors Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Participants in Canadian reality television series Male actors from Toronto