Yard DOG Stories 1 - 20
The dogs - their pictures and stories
Much has changed at the SPCA since this article was written, some for the better and some for the worse. Read more: The BC SPCA Now.
Stories 1 - 20 below | Stories 21 - 40 >> | Stories 41 - 60 >>
Story #1: Rottweiler; male; may be five or more years old
Dear Animal Advocates,
There is a dog in our neighbourhood that exists in a chain-link pen - He is fed and watered once a day - but spends most of his time alone and frustrated - Now, freezing in winter then hot in summer. No green grass to enjoy, nowhere to run. No blankets, no one to play with him - He's supposed to be a guard dog - but he's friendly and playful with me - I visit him daily and take him a milk bone biscuit, pet him through the fence and talk to him - he watches for me - and never barks - at me. He's craving attention and human contact. His wooden house at the back of the run is all he has - no blankets - just bare wood. He's been trying to dig out and he chews on the boards. No toys - mental cruelty is what I see. What can we do to free him?...
Reported many times to SPCA, most recently that AAS knows of in October 2001. It is easy to confirm this dog's life, as it has never been seen outside this pen.
Story #2: German shepherd; female; 13 years old
Dear Animal Advocates,
This dog is a beautiful German Shepherd. She has been locked inside a cement prison for years. This animal has no contact with anyone, other than its owners, who as what I've seen don't pay any attention to it, only to maybe feed it. I cannot tell if this poor dog even has clean water. The ground is completely cement, and is covered in feces and urine and smells so vile when you walk by. The dog has to walk in it and smell it continuously, not to mention that its feet are always on this damp cement. After observing the dog through the cement fence I suspect that it is likely that the dog has arthritic feet or legs, - just by watching it walk. The dog does have a very small doghouse, but it is too small to even turn around in. In the summer time I see the owner tending to his yard and garden and this dog is locked up in this cement cage at the back of the yard, without any recognition that it's alive at all. It's never taken out for walks or shown any company so it won't be lonely. What can I do?...
AAS has visited this old dog many times. In November 2001, AAS supporters politely offered a large, insulated dog house with a door flap to the owners of this dog. It was refused.
AAS does not want this dog removed. She is far to old and weak to survive the stress of sudden changes and especially the fear of other dogs. All dogs that have been denied socializing with dogs are fearful of them. They do not know if any dog may not attack them. We would like her to have short walks, a better dog-house and the feces cleaned daily.
Story #3: mixed breed; five or more years old
Dear Animal Advocates,
Can you please come by & take a look at this poor dog's surroundings & see if you can talk to the owners or do something for this animal. This dog has been penned up for two years. Back then, it would come to the lane fence side of its pen when called. I heard about this dog from a friend of mine (she used to walk by each day on her way to work); it was a loving happy pup, which would thump its tail expectantly and appeared to be happy.
Today at least two years later, it shows signs of severe psychological trauma. It has that "hang-dog" look on its face much like the face of the dog in the picture in your ad. When I reached over to pet it, it let me at first and then just hung its head and slumped itself into its grey plywood slot which doesn't even have a blanket for it to lie on. Obviously the dog has given up expecting any real human contact of inclusion. I was told by someone at the SPCA that as long as there is evidence it is being cared for, they can't do a thing. I feel like going over there with wire cutters and freeing the poor thing. Ironically...a pen, a plywood environment and a tarp equals CARE ???? I sincerely hope you can help this poor animal...obviously the owners don't consider a prison and isolation to be abusive...when you see the dog you will know right away what its psychological state is and how well it fits the criteria you have for advocating this animal's rights. Please let me know if you have been able to help this dog...my heart breaks each time I think of it...
Reported to AAS January 2000
This poor dog is very fearful, but with time and the right person, he can have a life. It is easy to document that this dog has none of its social or emotional needs met - it is never not in this cage. We think that if improvements cannot be made by talking to the owners (but we are convinced that the SPCA has known of this dog for years and so this should have been done already), that the dog should be seized and rehabilitated.
Story #4: Rottweiler; male; five years old
Dear Animal Advocates,
Please come and help this dog. It's a Rottweiler and I'm afraid of it. Its owners have kept it like this for four years. They used to take it off its chain and take it for a walk sometimes but they stopped years ago. I can see it everyday and it makes me feel so angry. I want to chain them up and make them lie in their own poo. I can't stand to see it any longer, but no one will help it...
This dog was removed by the fearful neighbour and rehabilitated over a period of two years and rehomed.
Story #5: Rottweiler; male; over five years old
Dear Animal Advocates,
Will you come and see this dog in my neighbourhood? No one will help it and it's been in this dirty cage for at least eight years. It's just a guard dog. They never talk to it or touch it, or pay any attention. Even when they are out in the garden, they don't even look at it. It used to wag its tail when they came out but it stopped a long time ago. I don't think it knows why it's living. Its cage is always full of feces. It has no life. It would be better off dead... Reported: April 2001
AAS does not know if this dog is too old to successfully make a transition to a new home, but when we twice visited him he was friendly and very unaggressive. We would like, at the least, for his life to be improved, by being given daily walks.
Story #6: pit bull terrier; 18 months old
Dear Animal Advocates,
There's a pup in my neighbourhood. I think they're trying to make it tough. They leave it in the yard, it's only a few months old, and they feed it twice a day but they never bring it in and they never touch it or talk to it. It's a grow-op house and they want to turn this sweet little pup into a guard dog. He must have been so cold and frightened all winter...
We were told by the neighbour that this dog was surrendered to the Vancouver city pound where we suspect it was killed - at taxpayer's expense.
Story #7: German shepherd cross; female; 3 years old; purchased by AAS:
Dear Animal Advocates,
Please come and take this dog off her chain. I'll do anything, I can't stand it anymore. She's breaking my heart. This is her second litter at least. She's chained and she can't get away from male dogs, and she can't get away from her own poo and she can't keep her pups clean and they're all crawling with flies. They got her when she was just a pup herself and they chained her outside and when she cried and barked because she was so lonely they wrapped wire around her muzzle and it got infected and you can still see the scars. No one will help her and I live too close and I'm afraid of these guys. Please help her!...
This dog was purchased by AAS. She was spayed and rehomed.
We can tell you with assurance that Vancouver has many back yard breeders. Every municipality should have bylaws that require a breeding license with regulations that permit city ACO's and the SPCA to inspect the dogs and pups. AAS has produced a thoughtful, comprehensive report on back yard breeding with a draft "Control of Breeding" bylaw. If you wish a copy of our proposal "TOO MANY DOGS - ANTI-LITTER LAWS", we would be happy to provide it.
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Story #8: Rottweiler; male; one year; no longer there:
Dear Animal Advocates,
There's a Rottweiler in my neighbourhood and he is chained on sharp gravel in the blazing sun and his chain is so short that he can only take a few steps, and the doghouse must be like an oven. Sometimes I see him and his chain is around his leg and he can't walk at all, and it's cutting into him and it's been like that for god only knows how long. I want to help him so much, but I'm told as long as he has food water and shelter they can't do anything. I was asked by the SPCA, "How do you know it is hot in his dog house?" It was 32 degrees and there is no shade at any time! He looks fierce, but I know he is a sweetheart because sometimes he gets free and then he runs up to me and kisses me with joy. I am afraid of his owners, I'm afraid to take him. Oh please, please help him...
Reported: June 2000
AAS visited this dog several times. On one occasion Spike was loose, running up and down the lane. He came at our call and threw himself with joyful puppy trust into our arms, and "kissed" us over and over. A neighbour put him back into his pen. According to the neighbours Spike dug his way out on many occasions. Luckily he was still a loving, cheerful pup who simply escaped his pen to get the attention he so badly needed. What he got was put back in his pen. AAS offered to buy Spike, but we received no reply and shortly after he disappeared. We were told his owner moved to Surrey, where we believe Spike is probably still chained. We would like the SPCA to trace Spike's whereabouts, to make an inspection and if warranted, to seize Spike. AAS would like to be informed of this action, as we believe with the proper rehabilitation he need not be killed.
Spike is an example of how a sweet-natured, twenty pound pup might be turned into an angry, one hundred pound dog; and of how easy it is for unattended yard dogs to get loose.
Story #9: Doberman pinscher; 2 years old; still there:
Dear Animal Advocates,
I don't understand how anyone can do this to a dog, but I think this Doberman is ruined now. Please go take a look and try to help him. He spends his whole life in this basement stairwell and he is going crazy. I think he's past help. He rushes up and down the stairs trying to see out, he acts like he's lost his mind. I'd just go get him because I can't stand to see a helpless creature suffer like this, but he's pretty scary now. Can you help him?...
Reported July 2000
AAS has seen this dog several times. It is in a constant state of heightened fear and aggression. Its behaviour meets the BC SPCA guideline definition: Emotional distress: is an aversive (negative) state experienced by animals when exposed to stressors causing negative emotions such as anxiety and fear, or when deprived of mental stimulation resulting in negative emotions such as depression, frustration or boredom.
AAS believes that this dog is a severe risk to the public and that it be seized by the SPCA and be given a chance to be rehabilitated by a trainer who specializes in Doberman Pinschers.
Story #10: Rottweiler; male; unknown age; still there:
Dear Animal Advocates,
Is there anything you can do for a dog in my neighbourhood? I've given up asking the SPCA. This is about the fifth dog this family has ruined. They get them and chain them up on their dark back porch or keep them in a tiny space at the side of the house and then one day they are gone and they get another one....
Reported: Many times beginning in 1998
AAS has viewed various dogs at this address over a period of three years and we have seen four different dogs. We can confirm the reports that as one dog disappears another is obtained (we believe from the Vancouver City pound and/or the Vancouver SPCA, which we know for certain, sell dogs to purchasers who are clearly unsuitable, and who may even be on record as having previous complaints of animal cruelty and neglect made against them. In fact, we have been told of instances where dogs have been sold by the VCP and the SPCA to owners who have had dogs seized from them in the past. From all we've been told by neighbours, the SPCA and the VCP has long been familiar with the residents of this address's history of dog-ownership. AAS hopes that these people can be stopped from their habit of obtaining, neglecting and dumping dogs.
Story #11: wolf hybrid; female; two-three years old; disposition unknown:
Dear Animal Advocates,
I live across the lane from a guy who keeps breeding his female wolf hybrid and selling the pups for $300. He keeps her chained to a fence, and sometimes she gets over the fence and just about chokes to death. The dogs are never in the house and the pups aren't either. Isn't there something we can do about this guy?...
Reported: May 2000
We can tell you with assurance that Vancouver has many back yard breeders. Every municipality should have bylaws that require a breeding license with regulations that permit city ACO's and the SPCA to inspect the dogs and pups. AAS has produced a thoughtful, common-sense, comprehensive report on back yard breeding with a draft "Control of Breeding" bylaw. If you wish a copy of our proposal Dog Breeding Regulations - "Too Many Dogs", we would be happy to provide it.
Story #12: cross breed; male; 18 months old; no longer there:
Dear Animal Advocates,
Right next door to me there is a dog that was put on a clothesline chain when he was just a pup and left there all day, every day and every night. He was so frightened and alone and he cried so much and barked to be taken inside, and some neighbours complained to the SPCA who told his owners that they would give him a fine for having a "barking dog" if they didn't keep him quiet so this is what they did to him. He likes me because sometimes when the owners aren't home I take him for walks, but he tries to jump the fence to get to me and just about strangles. I can't stand to put him back on this chain anymore and I just want to steal him but they would know if I took him and there's nowhere I can hide him. I cry at night listening to him cry, but he's almost given up now and doesn't cry as much because he knows he'll have the muzzle put on. Can you do something to help this dog? I just can't stand it anymore...
This dog was removed, probably by the person who reported it to AAS.
Story #13: cross breed; very old; died in its pen:
Dear Animal Advocates,
There are many unhappy dogs in my neighbourhood, all up and down the lane there are dogs that have been chained for years, and dogs in pens, and garages and one in a plywood cage that is so dark and this is their third dog they've kept there. Someone keeps stealing them. I hope they are happier because they couldn't be unhappier. But there is very old, big dog that is chained under a porch and he is so sad. The owners never touch him or take him off his heavy chain and he just lies in the dirt, covered in flies. I am too old to help this dog. I wish the people who stole the other dogs would steal this old dog too...
This dog died in the mud in its pen.
Story #14: Rottweiler, German shepherd cross; female; three years; no longer there:
Dear Animal Advocates,
I see this dog everyday and bring her treats and throw them over the fence to her but I can't get near her because she is chained to the house and I think she may be aggressive because she has been beaten. Another neighbour told me he saw her being beaten with a 2 X 4 once and for three days she could hardly stand up, so I worry she may bite if I try to save her. Her owners only push a bowl of food at her once a day, and sometimes I think they forget. Sometimes she has no water but I don't know for how long. If she didn't scare me I'd just go take her one night. Is there anything you can do?..
This dog was removed, probably by one of the neighbours.
Story #15: German shepherd cross; two years old; no longer there:
Dear Animal Advocates,
I live next door to three dogs who have lived in the backyard for four years and the female keeps having puppies. The dogs are never allowed in and food is just thrown onto the ground and sometimes the water is green and slimy so when no one is home I take them food and water. They are almost feral. Last Sunday the female started to give birth again and she was running all around the filthy yard with pups falling out of her and into the muddy ground because she had no place to hide from the male dogs and she wasn't able to lick them so they were dying. I phoned the SPCA but they said it wasn't an emergency, and hung up on me. Shouldn't there be a law against this?...
This dog and her pups were removed, probably by the neighbour.
Story #16: two purebred dogs; two years old; no longer there:
Dear Animal Advocates,
There are two purebred dogs in a cage down the lane from me. The man keeps them for hunting he says, but we think he is breeding them too. The cage is covered over so it is always dark in there and the cement floor is black with excrement and urine and the smell is sickening even 50 yards away. These dogs are never taken out as far as anyone can tell. Their lives are pointless, they are timid and they cry a lot, even after years. The water is disgusting! How can this be okay as the SPCA says?...
These dogs were removed, probably by one of the many neighbours who were upset.
Story #17: pit bull terrier; age unknown; no longer there:
Dear Animal Advocates,
There is a poor sad pit bull next door to me in a cage. His ears are cropped and he disappears for a day or two sometimes so I think they may be using him for fighting. He's very quiet, I've never heard him bark, he just looks sad and puzzled all the time. Is there anywhere for a pit bull? I would take him if there was...
We were told that this dog was moved to a Surrey pit-bull fighting location.
Story #18: purebred pointer; age unknown; still there:
Dear Animal Advocates,
I see a dog in a cage when I walk my dog everyday. The neighbours are all upset because this man has had seven dogs in twelve years and they keep disappearing. He says they are hunting dogs, not house dogs, as though there is any difference to the dog! One of the neighbours saw him put one of the dogs in the trunk of his car to take him somewhere. Another neighbour says she has seen the owner beat his dogs. Shouldn't there be a law against keeping dogs in cages? It is so lonely for them. I don't know how they survive. I know this is a nice boy, but he'd be better off dead....
Reported: February 2001
The neglect of this dog is easily verifiable, as it is almost never absent from this cage. This is a case where the guidelines should be used to stop this person's career of purchase/neglect/dispose.
Story #19: German shepherd, husky cross; male; young; still there:
Dear Animal Advocates,
This dog has been chained here since it was a tiny pup. Sometimes the kids take it for a walk, but the parents won't let it in the house so it spends 24 hours a day like this, year in and year out. Sometimes I worry he will choke to death because he gets tangled in his chain and there is a step just in front of him. When he was a pup the chain was so heavy for his tiny neck. You could tow a truck with his chain. Why do they have a dog? A cheap alarm. The police have told some neighbours to get a dog because of break-ins. That's not why dogs were put on earth. They sure weren't put on earth for this!....
Reported: March 2000
This dog is at risk of strangling and its living conditions should change or it should be removed.
Story #20: two Rottweilers; young; no longer there:
Dear Animal Advocates Society,
All the neighbours have complained over and over to the SPCA, but they can't do anything. There is a Rottweiler chained to a drug house near here and the owners say they are going to breed her and sell the pups for drug money. Her name is "Baby". The poor thing barks and cries and some of the neighbours who don't realize she is asking the only was she knows to not be outside and lonely all winter, have complained about her barking so now the owners have been warned about her barking. That is so unfair! Why isn't there a law against chaining dogs, and against breeding them too unless you have a license? They're out of money so she has no food, and she seems really dehydrated because they don't even bother making sure she has water. When we take her food and water she drinks and eats like it's her last meal! The SPCA says that as long as we're giving her food and water, then she's getting food and water and they can't do anything. Does that mean we have to let her starve? Can you do anything?...
We were told these dogs were surrendered to the SPCA or the VCP.
