WARNING: This story contains images that may be disturbing to some readers
A B.C. woman has been handed a one-year suspended sentence and a lifetime ban from owning pets in a shocking Vancouver Island animal cruelty case.
Melissa Tooshley was the second person sentenced for badly mistreating Teddy, a dog that was found in horrific condition at a Duncan property in February 2018.
But her sentence is actually the harsher of the two: her co-accused, 62-year-old Anderson Joe, was handed a three-month conditional sentence along with a lifetime pet ban.
Neither of the accused will serve jail time for their charges.
BC SPCA special constables found Teddy severely emaciated and tied up tightly with a tether that was just a few centimetres long.
His collar was deeply embedded in his neck, causing a massive infection that left the dog’s head swollen to several times its normal size.
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BC SPCA officers called it “one of the most profoundly shocking and disturbing cases of abuse we have ever witnessed.”
Despite ’round-the-clock emergency vet care, Teddy died two days later.
Joe pleaded guilty to willfully permitting unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to a dog earlier this year. His sentence was handed down on Monday.
Tooshley pleaded guilty to failing to provide the necessities of life in February.
At her sentencing Thursday, the defence said Tooshley expressed regret for Teddy’s treatment, saying she should have checked on the dog.
“I would like to say I am really sorry what happened to the dog,” Tooshley told the court.
The sentence matched what both prosecution and defence agreed would be appropriate.
Both Tooshley and Joe will now carry criminal records.
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