Police and an SPCA investigator executed a search warrant Friday at the apartment belonging to the owner of a German shepherd that died after he was found badly injured in a Kitsilano dumpster.
A couple discovered the two-year-old dog named Captain paralyzed and wrapped in a bloody blanket with serious wounds to his face and neck Wednesday in the 1400-block of Maple Street. The animal died of his injuries Thursday night.
Investigators spent two days visiting the Vancouver apartment building where it’s believed the German shepherd may have been beaten before they carried out the search warrant. They are still trying to track down the owner.
“He has not returned home. We’re pursing with the Vancouver Police Department possible leads on finding him,” SPCA general manager of cruelty investigations Marcie Moriarty said.
Investigators won’t comment on the evidence they seized from the dog owner’s suite.
“A warrant for his arrest at this stage is preliminary and is not happening yet,” Moriarty added.
Earlier this week a neighbour told CTV News the dog owner walked Captain with a heavy chain and that loud banging noises were heard in the suite Tuesday night.
“It was really terrible, I mean I could hear it out here… it sounded like somebody was ripping the walls out… and I didn’t do anything,” Curtis Penn said.
Captain was a police dog trainee from Alberta, but he failed to advance because of hearing problems. Investigators have performed a CT scan and a necropsy in hopes of finding out what happened to the dog before he was left to die in the dumpster.
The tragic and heartbreaking story has outraged so many people that the SPCA has received more than $40,000 in donations.
“It’s one of the only heartwarming things from this case is that people really care, and because they care and with these donations we can investigate this case and others like Captain’s,” Moriarty said.
The SPCA investigates approximately 7,000 cases each year.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Nafeesa Karim
