Identity of person who discarded injured dog in 100 Mile House dumpster may never be known

The fate of a dog found alive in a garbage bag in a dumpster at a transfer station in 100 Mile House late last month has not been made public, nor has the person responsible for the act been identified and it appears they will get away with it without repercussions.

The small dog was discovered by local resident Cory Forsyth who was dumping his garbage when he heard squeaking sounds in a bin at the Lone Butte Transfer Station in 100 Mile House just after 9 a.m. on Nov. 27.

He retrieved the bag with a pole, ripped it open and discovered the dog who he described as starved and neglected. He confirmed with the station attendant the BC SPCA was on its way and left.

A spokesperson with the BC SPCA in Williams Lake told iNFOnews.ca, Nov. 28, that the dog was in the care of Lakeland Veterinary Clinic in Hundred Mile House. No one from the vet clinic could be reached that day.

That’s when the story gets murky.

Rumours on social media indicated the dog had been put down. When iNFOnews.ca called the vet clinic on Dec. 1, a manager said the clinic is not legally allowed to release any information on the dog, including whether or not it had been euthanized.

On Dec. 2, Sgt. Brian Lamb with the 100 Mile House RCMP told iNFOnews.ca the detachment was advised of the incident, and a lot of people in the community were upset about it. An initial investigation was conducted and the information handed over to the BC SPCA.

“I can’t provide any further comment on the details of the incident because obviously if (the SPCA) have taken conduct of the investigation that information should be coming from them,” Sgt. Lamb said.

“I can say the incident was reported to the police, who were in contact with SPCA to pass on the information, if they so choose to conduct an investigation.”

On Dec. 3, in an email to iNFOnews.ca, senior communications director with the BC SPCA Kaila Wolf said her organization is limited to what they can say about the situation due to a lack of information.

“The BC SPCA received calls through our Animal Helpline regarding this dog, however, it never came into the BC SPCA’s care through our animal protection team nor our animal care team, so we aren’t able to comment on the dog’s condition,” Wolf wrote. “An animal protection file has been opened, however, we have limited information at this time, despite the best efforts of our animal protection team.” 

90 Mile resident Joshua Beaumont was at the dump just after the dog was discovered. He confirmed the SPCA had been called but didn’t want the dog to wait any longer and took the dog to the Lakeland Veterinary Clinic intending to pay the bill so it wouldn’t have to suffer any longer.

“The dog was really frozen and when I was driving it into town, I noticed it had blood on its neck,” he said. “I had a heater on the dog and was trying to warm it up and right at town it did start to move around.”

Beaumont owns several rescue dogs, and his friend who owns a local dog rescue met him at the vet and was going to step in and cover the costs.

“Initially the vet told us they would keep us informed about the dog, but someone posted the incident on Facebook and a lot of people were overwhelming the vet office with calls,” Beaumont said. “I think that’s why they stopped telling anyone anything. There were so many people involved.”

Being a part of the dog rescue circles in the small community, Beaumont has heard rumours about the incident. That the dog was given antibiotics but it had kidney failure and had to be euthanized.

It was also rumoured the person who threw the dog in a garbage bag was looking after it for his kid, who is a drug addict, and it was bitten by another dog. He saw the dog on the kitchen floor, assumed it was dead and threw it out, later turning himself into the police after seeing the incident posted on social media.

“It had been bit, there was still blood on its neck, nobody cleaned it up or anything,” Beaumont said. “These are still rumours, but even if they’re true, he still should’ve taken the dog to the vet.”

The BC SPCA is the only animal welfare organization in the province that can recommend charges under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Criminal Code of Canada. It is up to Crown Council to prosecute and for the judge to determine sentencing upon conviction.

The organization is encouraging anyone with firsthand information to reach out to the BC SPCA’s Animal Helpline (1-855-622-7722).

The organization is also in need of the public’s help in a separate, recent case of animal cruelty where a dog was found deceased, muzzled and chained to a tree in the Penticton area. Despite an appeal to the public for information, there are no leads to move that investigation forward.