R v White, 2015 BCPC 474

BC SPCA attended to a call where a dog (“Apollo”) was allegedly living in a cardboard box on the porch of a house. When Constables attended, the owner of Apollo immediately wanted to surrender him. Apollo was observed to be extremely matted and covered in his own feces and was taken to a veterinarian right away and. Due to being in severe pain and discomfort, the dog was aggressive and defensive. Apollo was anesthetized so the vet could shave him. Once Apollo was shaved, he was observed to have overgrown nails and severe infection in both ears with dermatitis covering his body.
Once Apollo was nursed back to health he was adopted out, but sadly was returned and euthanized as he had become extremely aggressive and was a danger to people. This was likely due to lack of socialization and living in pain and distress for many years.
Mitigating factors include: White pleaded guilty and was in his 70’s at the time of his trial. He is a First Nations man and suffers from numerous health issues.