The BC SPCA has recommended an animal cruelty charge in the case of Captain, the German shepherd who was left for dead in a Kitsilano dumpster last week.
The single count of causing unnecessary suffering, pain or injury to an animal has yet to be approved by Crown counsel, however, and the name of the suspect has not been released.
But Marcie Moriarty, the SPCA’s manager of cruelty investigations, confirmed Friday that evidence shows the dog’s injuries were inflicted by a person.
“We have sufficient evidence to make that presentation to Crown counsel,” Moriarty said.
The results of Captain’s necropsy have yet to be released, however.
The recommended charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a lifetime ban on owning animals.
Moriarty said investigators recently spoke to Captain’s owner, Brian Whitlock, who they had been searching for since the dog was discovered fatally injured last week.
Whitlock was arrested Wednesday on an unrelated charge and released the next day from Vancouver provincial court. He refused to speak to media as he ran from the courthouse, and when approached by a CTV News reporter Friday said he had no comment.
Whitlock has not been accused of harming Captain, and a source close to him told CTV News if he had anything to do with the dog’s injuries it would be out of character for him.
According to a search warrant executed at Whitlock’s apartment, police found a knife, baseball bat and heavy chain inside his home.
Captain went into cardiac arrest and died last Thursday, despite the efforts of medical staff who performed life-saving measures on the dog for more than a half hour.
A neurologist who examined the German shepherd said if he had survived, he likely would have been quadriplegic.
The tragic story has outraged animal lovers, hundreds of whom gathered at Kitsilano Beach Wednesday night for a vigil in Captain’s honour.
Captain’s death has also inflamed social media users who lashed out at Whitlock calling him names and making threats.
Online expert Dave Teixeira said social media can be a court of public opinion.
“People are behind their keyboards, they have a lot of courage and people tend to say things they would not necessarily say in what they perceive to be a public forum, even though social media is very much a public forum,” Teixeira said.
The case has also spurred an online donation drive that has so far raised more than $70,000 in support for the SPCA’s animal cruelty investigations.
“The outpouring of support has just been incredible,” Moriarty said. “These cases cannot be investigated without donors and while I’d like to say Captain’s case was one-in-a-million, this is sadly not the case.”
