http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2006/10/12/2007751-sun.html

Tortured dog left for dead on rural road
Pair arrested in horrific Didsbury case
By SARAH KENNEDY, CALGARY SUN

Horrendous is how police and a veterinarian are describing abuse that left a young dog close to death after it was bound, tortured and dragged about 100 metres along a Didsbury road.

A 19-year-old man, whose family owned the female dog, has been charged with the crime. A 17-year-old boy has also been charged.

Dr. Andy Mencarelli said he received a call from some concerned residents after a dog, a lab/collie cross, was discovered Sunday night on a road, lying in a pool of blood.

Mencarelli said he initially believed the dog had been hit by a car, but when he arrived at the scene, about 60 km north of Calgary, he was horrified by what he discovered.

"It was the most disturbing thing I've ever seen in my life," he said yesterday.

"It is the worst case of abuse I've ever seen."

The dog had all four legs bound, a bag pulled over her head, duct tape across her snout and a rope around her neck.

There was a blood stain stretching about three blocks al-ong the road, which is where it's believed the dog was dragged from the back of a vehicle, he said.

Mencarelli said the rope was tied tight around the dog's neck.

Her neck, back and pelvis were all broken, and she had lacerations over her entire body, said the veterinarian.

"There was no conclusion other than she had been tortured," he said.

But most horrifying for Mencarelli was the discovery the dog was still alive.

"She was in shock," he said. "I put her in the back of my truck and put her to sleep immediately."

Mencarelli took the dog, who he believes to be be-tween five- and seven-years-old, to the clinic where the RCMP arrived immediately and began their investigation.

Arrests were made after police were able to follow the blood trail to a residence in the small town, said Cpl.Kevin Fischer.

"This is the most horrendous act I've seen done to an animal in the 10 years of my policing," he said.

Daniel Charles Haskett, 19, whose family owned the dog, has been charged with injuring/endangering an animal, causing unnecessary suffering of an animal and obstructing a police officer.