CANADA -- A drive to get a dog moved to [allegedly] better living conditions took to the boardroom as supporters rallied to make their voices heard at the regional district meeting Aug. 10.
Dog owner Paul MacNeil asked the regional district board to let his German shepherd Cain be moved from the Thornhill animal shelter to the Kitimat Humane Society where he and his supporters believe the canine would have better care until its trial day in December.
He explained that Cain bit a child when cornered after being chased down the street by children with hockey sticks and three diesel trucks. Accoring to the dog owner, the child’s skin wasn’t broken, he wasn’t taken to the hospital, didn’t have a band-aid put on and later on that same day was playing in his backyard, said MacNeil.
“He did bite [the child and I’m not excusing that] but the Thornhill pound is not the place for a dog to be for a long time,” said MacNeil, adding he didn’t want to debate the case but just wanted his dog moved to the Kitimat shelter.
“I’m not allowed to see my dog on my terms,” he said.
The Thornhill animal shelter is open from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and he works from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., he [complained].
Earlier in the day, regional district bylaw enforcement officer Murray Daly confirmed the dog was seized in April and said bylaw was seeking a destruction order for the dog. Daly didn’t want to speak about specifics of the case but did comment on the shelter keeping Cain.
“I will say the dog is in our possession and until we’re ordered to do so by a judge, it’s not leaving our possession,” he said. “The dog is not being treated inhumanely,” he added, saying Cain was being fed and watered.
“It receives all the treatment it would probably get at the Kitimat shelter.”
Commenting on the size of Cain’s current kennel, Daly said that Cain’s kennel is an inside and outside kennel and Cain does go outside into “a small containment area.”
“It’s a vicious dog in there (shelter) for obvious reasons,” he said, adding that for safety reasons, staff wasn’t going to take it out, let it run loose or take it for a walk. There were witness reports and the police report as to what happened and the dog fell under the criteria of the regional district bylaws and Community Charter to hold him. An assessment on the dog has been done but since the case is before the courts, Daly couldn’t go into detail.
The owner hasn’t been denied visitation and has been instructed about the steps he needs to take to see the dog, said Daly.
“We don’t want him [just] showing up at the shelter,” said Daly, adding it’s a legal matter so certain protocols are in place.
(Terrace Standard - August 15, 2012)
