Account Login/Registration

Access KelownaNow using your Facebook account, or by entering your information below.


Facebook


OR


Register

Privacy Policy

Duncan man given a lifetime ban on owning animals after disturbing case of animal cruelty

Images are extremely graphic and are not suitable for some audiences.

A man from Duncan has been given a lifetime ban on owning animals and a 90-day suspended sentence in a case involving Teddy, an emaciated, chained dog seized by the BC SPCA in 2018.

On Feb. 16, 2018, the BC SPCA received a report of a dog in distress. When the constables arrived at the property they found a medium-sized brown dog on a tether that was only a few inches long, standing in a large pile of mud and feces.

<who>Photo credit: BC SPCA

“As they got closer there was an overpowering stench and they realized that, not only was the dog severely emaciated, but his collar was deeply embedded into his neck, causing massive infection,” says Marcie Moriarty, chief prevention and enforcement officer for the BC SPCA.

Moriarty adds that the dog’s head was swollen to two to three times its normal size.

The attending officers used bolt cutters to free Teddy and rushed him to an emergency veterinary clinic.

Despite round the clock care, Teddy succumbed to his critical condition two days later.

The BC SPCA announced charges against Anderson Joe as well as Melissa Tooshley in March, 2018.

The case was so shocking that an online petition was started to ask for the maximum sentence for the couple, which is up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine and up to a lifetime ban on owning animals.

“This is one of the most profoundly shocking and disturbing cases of abuse we have ever witnessed,” said Marcie Moriarty, chief prevention and enforcement officer for the BC SPCA.

“No sentence will ever bring this poor dog back or address the level of suffering he endured. But our goal was always to ensure that this individual was never allowed to inflict this kind of pain on another animal again, so we are pleased with the lifetime ban.”



If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.

If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.


Send your comments, news tips, typos, letter to the editor, photos and videos to news@kelownanow.com.



Weather
webcam icon

weather-icon
Tue
19℃

weather-icon
Wed
15℃

weather-icon
Thu
10℃

weather-icon
Fri
8℃

weather-icon
Sat
8℃

weather-icon
Sun
9℃

current feed webcam icon

Recent Livestream




Top Stories

Follow Us

Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Linkedin Follow us on Youtube Listen on Soundcloud Follow Our TikTok Feed Follow Our RSS Follow Our pinterest Feed
Follow Our Newsletter
Privacy Policy