A Red Deer animal control officer was shocked to find a five-month-old German shepherd had been left alone with no food and only a toilet bowl for water in an apartment vacated by evicted tenants.
The puppy is recovering well and was taken to the veterinarian for shots on Wednesday.
Animal control officer Rebecca Bauer received a call at about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday from a landlord who didn’t know the dog was in the building until he discovered it. The tenants of a Central Alberta apartment had been evicted earlier on April 13, but had stayed a little bit longer. Then they left behind their dog.
“It was pretty bad, the dog had clearly been left alone for a minimum of three days,” said Bauer. “He had been drinking the water from the toilet bowl and there’s only a minimal amount of it there until you flush.”
This was Bauer’s first call like this but other local animal control officers have dealt with similar situation where two small puppies were left behind.
“I’ve been in this business for two years now and it still shocks me,” said Bauer. “It amazes me that people can leave behind a living, breathing animal.”
The apartment was covered in dog feces.
Getting the proper vaccinations for the young puppy was one of the top priorities for Klassic Kennels, where the dog is being kept.
“He appears healthy, though he is a little on the skinny side,” said Bauer. “That will happen if you don’t eat for three or four days. But his energy was high, he was super excited to have human connection again.
“Health wise he is doing well, he just needed to have some supper.”
The dog will stay at Klassic Kennels for about a week, giving it time to adjust. Because he is a young puppy, he is still in need of a lot of socialization and training.
He will go up for adoption, with people already interested in giving this once-forgotten puppy a home.
“We’ll interview the families that are interested and make sure he goes to his forever-home where he will never be abandoned or left in a shelter,” said Bauer.
No charges have been laid but the RCMP were notified of the incident.
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com