Dec 16 2005
Six Lab-cross puppies who were abandoned in a Ladner park on Dec. 6 only hours after their birth have been reunited with their mother, Shadow.
SPCA animal cruelty officers seized the mother on Dec. 14 in order to reunite her with her surviving puppies. The B.C. SPCA said it's the first time they have been successful in obtaining a search warrant to take legal custody of an animal based solely on psychological distress.
"We were able to identify the individual who abandoned the puppies and we initiated a cruelty investigation against him, but it was also critical that we reunite the mother with her puppies because of the trauma the mother and her litter would be experiencing from being separated only hours after their birth," senior animal protection officer Eileen Drever said in a press release. "The owner refused to turn over the dog to us and we didn't feel it was safe to return the puppies to him, so we applied for a warrant to seize Shadow."
All of the puppies are currently in foster care and have permanent homes waiting for them when they are able to leave their mother in approximately two months.
A Delta resident has confessed to dumping eight puppies in Hawthorne Park in the 5100 Block of 56th Street in Ladner and on an adjacent street shortly after Shadow gave birth. Two of the puppies were stillborn and another two had to be resuscitated by rescuers.
Drever said being separated from their mother would cause both physical and psychological problems for the puppies.
"We know that the early phase of bonding and socialization is one of the key factors that determine a dog's behaviour later on in life," she said. "These early days and weeks are critical in a puppy's ability to form bonds with other animals and, ultimately, with humans. It is also the time when the mother sets boundaries for her pups by giving them what is know as 'inhibitive bites' to control their behaviour."
Shadow and her puppies are currently being cared for at an undisclosed location to ensure their safety. The SPCA investigation into the case continues and charges of animal cruelty are pending. If convicted, the owner faces a maximum fine of $2,000, up to six months in jail and/or a prohibition of owning animals.

Darah Hansen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, December 17, 2005

DELTA I Six newborn Labrador-cross puppies dumped and left to die in a Ladner park two weeks ago are now back in the care of their mother and doing well, a senior animal protection officer with the B.C. SPCA said Friday.

"She was a happy dog seeing those puppies," Eileen Drever said in an interview of this week's emotional reunion between one-year-old Shadow and her litter.

Animal protection officers seized Shadow from her owner Wednesday after the man took the dog to a veterinarian because she was underweight, Drever said.

Drever said it was the first time the B.C. SPCA has obtained a warrant from a justice of the peace to take legal custody of an animal based solely on the animal's psychological distress.

"The bond between a mother and her newborn puppies is one of the strongest forms of attachment in the animal kingdom," Drever said in a news release. "Shadow would have had an overwhelming instinct to nurture her litter and keep them safe and would have been devastated to be separated from them."

Lorie Chortyk, spokeswoman for the B.C. SPCA, said the association has been deliberately working for four years to include psychological distress, as well as physical cruelty, as a legal basis for obtaining a warrant.

"Psychological distress is just as bad," Chortyk said.

Drever said the SPCA was able to identify Shadow's owner based on a tip received by the Delta police.

She added her office has recommended nine charges of cruelty be filed against the man, related to the puppies and their mother. Under the provincial Animal Cruelty Act, someone found guilty of cruelty can face a maximum fine of $2,000, up to six months in jail and a prohibition from owning animals.

Drever said the file has been forwarded to the Crown counsel's office, where the recommended charges will be reviewed.

Eight newborn puppies were found Dec. 6 in two separate locations in and around Hawthorne Park in the 5100 block of 56th Street in Ladner. According to Drever, two of the puppies were dead when the litter was discovered, although it was unclear whether the animals died of exposure or neglect, or had been stillborn.

Drever said two more pups were found in critical condition, but were able to be resuscitated.

The surviving puppies have been in foster care and will all have homes when they are able to be separated from their mother, Drever said.

Drever said the SPCA is also hoping to place Shadow in a new home.

For now, Shadow is being slowly and quietly reunited with her pups at an undisclosed location to ensure their safety, Drever said. As of Friday, three of the pups had been successfully re-introduced with Shadow, who is still producing milk, with the remainder of the litter expected to be with her this weekend.

Drever said studies have shown pups require early bonding with their mother in order to learn critical socialization skills. When puppies are deprived of this phase of development they have a much higher likelihood of behaving aggressively, she said.