The B.C. dog owner who grabbed national headlines for neglecting his Golden Retriever until it was a "walking skeleton" has been banned from owning animals for the next decade.
Michael Schneider brought the young dog, then named Buddy, into the Maple Ridge SPCA, east of Vancouver, close to death and covered in mud and feces in February. He weighed only 10.5 kilograms -- about one-third the recommended weight for its breed.
Staff named the dog Trooper, hoping he would survive from what they described as a horrifying case of neglect. He was adopted to foster parents two months later after gaining eight kilograms.
In Pictures: Trooper's miraculous recovery
The dog recently starred in television advertisements alongside former ‘Beverly Hills 90210' star Jason Priestly in support of the British Columbia SPCA.
Appearing in a B.C. courtroom on animal cruelty and abandonment charges Monday morning, Schneider was handed a $2,000 fine and ordered to pay $400 restitution to the SPCA.
He was also given a 10-year-prohibition from owning animals.
Under the criminal code, a conviction on animal cruelty charges carries a possible jail sentence of six months, something SPCA officials say rarely happens.
Speaking to CTV News after surrendering the dog, Schneider described himself as a caring man who didn't realize what bad shape his dog was in until he shaved him.
"I'm sorry that I let it get that far," he said.
Schneider said he couldn't take the dog to the veterinarian earlier because he lost his job, and was not aware of how thin Trooper was until he saw the animal without his fur.
"I didn't want him to die. I care about animals."
SPCA senior animal protection officer Eileen Drever told CTV News the abuse of Trooper was some of the worst she'd seen in her entire career.
"I've seen dogs in this condition before, but they have been dead; they've not been alive," she said.
