A dog left abandoned inside a locked suitcase was found by a Richmond man on Sunday who got police to help pry open the luggage and save the animal.

Graham Barrett was taking his two dogs for their evening walk by an empty lot along Alexandra Road when he spotted a suitcase that looked like it had something moving inside.

“I heard this noise coming through the undergrowth,” he told CTV News. “I saw this suitcase… I knew it had to be an animal. I knew something was trapped inside.”

Barrett approached the blue hard-shell suitcase and found it was double-locked. He took it home and tried to open the lock to help the trapped animal, but found it was shut too tightly. He called the Richmond RCMP, and officers came over to help. They were shocked to find a little apricot poodle trapped inside.

“What reason could there be for someone to do this?” Barrett said.

The dog is now being housed at the Richmond Animal Protection Society, where staff are calling him Donut because of his sweet personality.

"We were all very surprised, not expecting to receive what we did -- which was a very healthy, active, well-groomed, well-taken care of dog," Julie Desgroseillers, manager of the animal shelter, told CTV News.

Donut appears to be about eight years old. He seems happy and well-adjusted and was given a clean bill of health at the shelter.

Barrett already has two of his own dogs, but wants his daughter to adopt the poodle. He wants to name him Lucky because he was so lucky to be found.

The SPCA is investigating. If anyone is charged and convicted they could face up to five years in prison, a $75,000 fine and a lifetime ban on owning animals.

Eyal Lichtmann, CEO of the Richmond Animal Protection Society, was shocked at the state in which the dog was found.

“This is horrendous,” he told CTV News. “We’re talking about the nicest, most loveable little dog that you could imagine. It’s extremely friendly. There’s absolutely no reason that someone should have done this."

Lichtmann wants to remind people that anyone can surrender their dog to the shelter, no questions asked.

With a report from CTV's Ben Miljure