WARNING: Some images in this story are disturbing and not suitable for all readers.
“If you saw him now, he’s full weight and the happiest dog you’ll probably ever meet.”
Cedric’s new owner’s voice fills with emotion as he talks about their new life with the young boxer.
“You wouldn’t know that he was neglected and abused, the way he is.”
Global News viewers will remember Cedric as Tank — the boxer who was seized by the BC SPCA in February. He had been kept in a crate and was so grossly underweight he was less than half his ideal body size.
The neglected pup was so emaciated his body condition score was barely a one on the body condition score scale of one to nine, and his organs were shutting down.
Jodi Dunlop, manager of the Vancouver SPCA, says Cedric was the most emaciated dog she has cared for in her 30 years of rescuing animals – with every rib protruding and he was shivering constantly to try to keep warm.
“He’s skin and bones – he struggles to get comfortable because he’s lying on his bones, which causes him pain,” Dunlop said in February.
After undergoing emergency surgery to remove a deflated football in his stomach, which staff says he likely consumed in an attempt to survive, Tank, now renamed Cedric by Dunlop, required round-the-clock care.
Dunlop took him in and fed him a tablespoon of food every few hours as he had been without food for so long his system could easily become overwhelmed.
But he slowly started to gain weight and his personality started to shine through.
That’s when Rae and his family stepped in.
“He fit into our house within three days,” says Rae. “You can tell he never had attention. He didn’t know the word ‘walk’ or ‘out’ and now he knows those words and he’s living a life that a dog should be living.”
The Rae family had another boxer but had to put him down recently at the same facility where Cedric was undergoing emergency surgery. When Rae was at that clinic he saw Cedric but didn’t think further about him until he was watching the news a few days later and saw him.
He donated money for Cedric’s surgery and after inquiring over and over about adopting him, they were given Cedric to see how he would fit in with their family.
“I just felt like my dog had a little fight in him, I don’t believe in spirits and all that, but I felt like my dog that passed had a little bit of Cedric in him so we pushed really hard to get him,” says Rae.
WATCH: (Aired April 16, 2018) A Vancouver Island breeder has surrendered dozens of dogs to the BC SPCA which range in age from one-and-a-half to 15 years old:
The BC SPCA has now submitted animal cruelty charges under the Criminal Code and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act against Cedric’s former owners. They are waiting for Crown counsel to respond.
For now, Cedric is the new recipient of a BC SPCA Animal Courage Award, and has just celebrated his third birthday with a dog birthday cake from his new family.
“As much as we’re helping him recover, he’s helping us recover with the loss of our dog so it’s working out well for everyone,” says Rae.
Justice for Teddy
So far this year, the BC SPCA has received 3,115 cruelty complaints from around the province. According to Marcie Moriarty, the chief prevention and enforcement officer with the BC SPCA, it is common to receive more than 10,000 calls a year.
One of the most disturbing cases recently involved a dog named Teddy.
BC SPCA officers have called it “one of the most profoundly shocking and disturbing cases of abuse we have ever witnessed.”
Special constables received a call about an emaciated and chained dog on Feb. 16. When they arrived at the home, what they found shocked them.
“We received a report of a dog in distress and 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,” said Moriarty in a release in March.
“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.”
His head was so swollen, it was about three times its normal size.
Teddy died two days later despite round-the-clock care.
WARNING: The photo below may be disturbing to some viewers. Use the slider to reveal the image:
More than 135,000 people have now signed a petition calling for justice for Teddy and the maximum legal penalties to be applied against Teddy’s former owners, Duncan residents Melissa Tooshley and Anderson Joe.
The couple last appeared in court on May 22 and their lawyers were in court briefly on June 5, entering not guilty pleas for their clients. The date for their trial, which is expected to last two days, will be set on or before by June 19.
If convicted, Tooshley and Joe face a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine and up to a lifetime ban on owning animals.
WATCH: (Aired Jan. 9, 2018) Eileen Drever checks in with Handsome, a seven-year old mastiff who was rescued in an extremely emaciated state.
A ‘Handsome’ boy
The BC SPCA has also submitted their recommendation for charges against the owners of another dog that stole the hearts of British Columbians.
Handsome, a mastiff, had the same body score as Cedric when he was rescued outside a home in Hope, just one out of nine.
He was starving when they found him in December, with sores on his paws and his teeth worn down right to the gums.
After a Langley businessman donated $4,000 for Handsome’s medical bills, he was featured on the Global News adopt a pet segment, and in February was adopted to a loving family.
WATCH: (Aired Dec. 23, 2017) Jill Bennett has the latest on the generous Langley businessman who decided to help Handsome. And a warning, this story does contain some disturbing images.
“He loves people, he loves his toys,” BC SPCA senior animal protection officer Eileen Drever said.
The BC SPCA is now waiting for charges to be approved.
PHOTOS: Handsome before and after:
“She’s learning to be just a dog”
The power of social media and the adopt a pet segment also played a big role in the recent adoption of another audience-favourite, Delilah the St. Bernard.
If someone had told Jane Slatter a year ago that she would now be the guardian of two big St. Bernards, she would have told them they were crazy.
After having to put down her two senior Rottweilers last year, Slatter adopted a St. Bernard named Bogart who was surrendered to the BC SPCA due to neglect.
But when one of the hairdresser’s clients sent her the clip of Delilah on the Noon News, Slatter knew she was destined to have her as well.
WATCH: (Aired May 15, 2018) Delilah is senior dog currently under the care of the BC SPCA. She’s a very calm St. Bernard waiting for her forever home.
“People said ‘are you crazy?’ and I said ‘I have to do this, no matter what, I have to do this,’” Slatter told Global News.
Little is known about where Delilah came from. She arrived at the BC SPCA in Kamloops as part of a cruelty investigation and staff said it appears she was bred over and over to have one litter of puppies after another.
“Given the circumstances I heard, she had a pretty rough life, [and] had a lot of puppies,” said Slatter.
It was originally thought Delilah was at least 10 years old but after some care and further tests, Slatter says it was revealed she is only seven or eight.
She knew the three of them would make a perfect family.
But when she got to the SPCA on Wednesday, the day after the adopt a pet segment, she was told someone had already applied to adopt Delilah and Slatter thought that was going to be the end of their story together.
But then she received a call that Thursday saying the original person had withdrawn their application and asked if she was still interested.
However, she was now at the beginning of working three days in a row and did not want to adopt Delilah and then have to leave her alone at home.
The SPCA staff could not guarantee they could hold Delilah until Sunday, but Slatter knew she was not going to give up that easily.
“So every day, at 10-to-five, when they closed, I would call and say ‘is she still available?’ and they would say ‘yes she is.’”
“I finally phoned on Saturday night at 10-to-four because they closed early and said ‘OK, is Delilah there?’ and they said ‘yes’ and I said ‘OK, I’ll be there first thing tomorrow.’”
“I put my time in calling,” she laughed.
“With any big decision in my life, if you put it out in the universe, generally it works out exactly the way it’s supposed to.”
Slatter says now Delilah has put on weight and she’s enjoying life with Bogart and her friends at doggy daycare, despite the fact that BC SPCA staff thought she would not get along with other dogs that well.
“It’s taking her a while, but it’s so sweet that she’s getting that. What she went through, that she’s still so open-minded to love, it’s amazing.”
“She’s learning how to be just a dog and that’s such a gift, to just be a dog.”
PHOTOS: Delilah, Bogart and their guardian Jane Slatter. Credit: Jane Slatter.
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