A dog was found in a trash can on the Camosun Trail in B.C.’s Pacific Spirit Regional Park on Wednesday, and it isn’t yet known how it wound up there.
Terry Sparrow was walking with his fiancé along a trail within the park, which surrounds the University of British Columbia campus, when he went to spit his gum out in a nearby trash bin and something furry sitting inside it caught his eye.
“I opened up the lid and asked my fiancé, is that what I think it is? And sure enough, it’s a little poodle-looking dog sitting in the garbage can,” he says.
Sparrow said the abandoned dog looked “shocked” and “traumatized.”
Sparrow and his partner Krista Brisk recently lost their own dog, Reggie. The two were on a walk to help with their personal grieving process when they came across the poodle in need.
With both of their hands full with a new puppy they’ve welcomed since the loss, the abandoned dog has instead been placed in the care of Sparrow’s family friend in North Vancouver, animal dog rescuer Laurie Schildt.
“Who would’ve done such a thing? It’s truly heartbreaking that someone could do such a thing to an innocent little dog,” says Schildt, who has named the rescue Oscar.
The injured dog suffered three broken ribs, and two discs on his back are too close together. His hip has been dislocated and will require surgery. Most of the trauma, says Schildt, is on the dog’s left side.
The RCMP’s university detachment is currently investigating the incident.
The maximum penalty of abandoning an animal in B.C. under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act is a $75,000 fine and two years of imprisonment. Charges under the Criminal Code of Canada can be up to a $10,000 fine, and up to two years imprisonment.
Anyone who has information regarding the dog and how it wound up in a garbage can near university grounds asked to contact UBC’s RCMP detachment and the B.C. SPCA.
“For an animal to be thrown to a garbage bin, is totally appalling, its sickening,” says Eileen Drever from the B.C. SPCA.
“It’s really imperative we put some form of identification on our animals, and ensure that microchips are registered so we can contact owners.”
The dog’s chip was not registered, making it difficult to identify him or the owner.
As for his name, Schildt says she was stuck between Lucky and Reggie Jr., but ultimately ended with Oscar, named after the Sesame Street character.
“After Oscar the Grouch, because he was in a garbage can,” says Schildt.
Schildt says the two will take it day by day as they work towards a recovery.
