The B.C. SPCA is recommending charges against a Quesnel, B.C., woman after the society says it found nearly 60 dogs and over a dozen birds living in squalid conditions on her property.
Officers executed a warrant at a Quesnel home on Wednesday, according to the society, and found 59 dogs among garbage, urine and feces. They included 12 chihuahuas, 43 cane corsos and four French bulldogs — many of which were puppies.
Some of the younger ones had their tails wrapped up with rubber bands in an effort to dock them, a procedure that has been banned in B.C. since 2016. The SPCA says the puppies were in severe pain with spinal cord and nerve infections, and will need to have their tails removed.
The society says the dogs had chewed through drywall around a power socket in the house, and were extremely fearful of the officers who rescued them.
“The moms had litters, and some of the moms were emaciated,” said Eileen Drever, senior officer with the society.
“It was just ever so sad, and the the ammonia count was so high that it burned the officers’ noses, it was so intense.”
Drever said the society is recommending animal cruelty charges to Crown counsel, with the maximum penalty under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act being a $75,000 fine, two years in prison and a lifetime prohibition from owning animals.
She said criminal charges may also be under consideration, though the officer acknowledged she had never seen the maximum penalty handed out in her 44-year career.
“It’s a woman who bred chihuahuas, cane corsos, all for profit,” she said. “And the conditions were so deplorable, we couldn’t leave the animals there.”
The SPCA also seized 14 birds from the breeder, including parrots and lovebirds. The society says a macaw and African grey parrot were missing a large amount of feathers “indicating either illness or emotional stress.”
Drever said the dogs have to be taken to animal centres all over the province to be treated, and won’t be up for adoption just yet as they require significant treatment.
