On the eve of B.C.’s Animal Abuse Prevention Day, the SPCA is looking for the people responsible for three shocking acts of cruelty against animals in separate cities.

In the first incident, the animal welfare agency says at least one person repeatedly shot a puppy with a pellet gun.

The four-month-old German shepherd pup was found suffering multiple wounds in a B.C. provincial park near Niskonlith Lake, close to Chase.

Senior animal protection officer Kathy Woodward said the animal was discovered cowering under a bush by people out walking their dog.

The pellets were removed at a veterinary clinic near Salmon Arm, but Woodward said the animal could have been killed.

One of the pellets that was surgically removed was only one millimeter from puppy’s aorta.

The puppy is expected to recover and one of the clinic staff plans to adopt the dog. The veterinarian who treated it is paying for its full medical costs.

The agency is also hoping the public can help solve an animal cruelty case in B.C.’s East Kootenay region, where a horribly injured cat was found by the side of the highway near Cranbrook.

The cat, named Nelson for Willie Nelson’s song Highwayman, was found suffering seven pellet shot wounds – all embedded into its head -- and had a huge gash across its neck.

“The vet says the wounds in his neck appear as though someone actually tried to cut his head off,” said Brenna Baker, manager of the East Kootenay SPCA branch.

The pellets were surgically removed from his head but he still requires extensive dental surgery because many of his teeth were shot and broken.

No suspects have been identified.

Finally, the SPCA is looking for a person they believe let a terrier-cross starve to death near Revelstoke.

A ski patrol member found the deceased dog inside a cardboard box at a truck turn-around on the Western boundary of Glacier National Park.

“Inside the box was a dog crate containing a deceased terrier-cross dog,” said Woodward.

Because there was feces inside the crate, constables believe the tan-coloured dog was alive – and left to suffer alone -- when it was dumped at the side of the road.

“A dog of this type should weight approximately 35 pounds, but this poor dog weighed a mere 11 pounds,” said Woodward.

A necropsy has been scheduled but cruelty officers believe the animal was starved to death.

The SPCA is looking for information that will lead to charges in all three cases. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-855-622-7722.

“It is important that people understand that animal cruelty is not acceptable and those who inflict pain and suffering on animals will be brought to justice,” Woodward said.

Wednesday marks Animal Abuse Prevention Day in B.C., and the BC SPCA is asking British Columbians to take action by signing a pledge and reporting animals in distress. The agency asks for pet owners to commit to being responsible animal guardians and to choose SPCA-certified food products, produced without cruelty to animals.

The annual observance was started in 2011 as a memorial to the 56 sled dogs that were slaughtered in Whistler.

The SPCA investigates nearly 8,000 complaints of animal neglect and abuse annually and relies heavily on donations from the public.

Find out more here.