Vancouver physiotherapist who beat blind dog investigated by regulatory college

A Vancouver physiotherapist is currently under investigation by the regulatory college after he was convicted on animal cruelty charges following a brutal attack on an elderly dog.

John David McCordic, born 1957, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges Aug. 10 and was fined $4,000 and banned from keeping animals for seven years.

McCordic has been a registered physiotherapist in B.C. for 30 years and owns North Shore Orthopaedic and Sports Clinic. Since the guilty plea, he has become the subject of a change.org petition calling for the College of Physical Therapists of B.C. to revoke his licence. The online petition started one week ago already has more than 5,700 signatures.

The College confirmed to iNFOnews.ca they are aware of the animal cruelty conviction and the concerns it raised. The College also confirmed it was aware of the call to revoke McCordic's licence.

"The College cannot lawfully revoke a registrant’s license to practice on the basis of a criminal conviction without due process under our own governing legislation," the College said in an email. "However, we understand the concerns raised, take the matter seriously and are in the process of looking into it."

iNFOnews.ca made several calls to McCordic's practice, but he did not return our calls. On the third and final call, iNFOnews.ca was told our number had been passed to his lawyer but no such call came before deadline.

McCordic's charges stem from an incident in May 2016 when he repeatedly and brutally beat his girlfriend's dog in an East Vancouver parking lot. The attack was caught on a surveillance camera.

The dog, a Bouvier named Bear, was 11 years old, blind and partially deaf. During the attack, McCordic stomped on the dog's paws and head as she tried to escape and kicked her in the face several times. McCordic laughed while the dog struggled, the SPCA said.

The B.C. SPCA, in a media statement about the attack, described the case as "disturbing."

"One of the cruellest parts of the video is that he would start to pet her and she would be encouraged and would come to him, only to have the beatings begin again," Eileen Drever of the B.C. SPCA said in the release.

Bear was seized by the B.C. SPCA and ultimately found a loving home where she spent the last four years of her life, before passing away aged 15, earlier this year.

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