Man finds dead puppy, syringe in box at Birds Hill Park
A Manitoba man who found a deceased puppy left in a box at Birds Hill Park wants to know why someone would discard the animal in that manner.
Ted Chick was driving out of the park after walking his golden retriever Tuesday evening when he spotted a box in the bush.
"It piqued my curiosity, so I got out and I happened to find a deceased dead puppy and a box covered in a blanket," said Chick.
And that's not all. Chick said there was also a syringe in the box with the dog.
"I thought maybe it was a medical syringe but there was no needle. Maybe it was used for feeding or somewhere along those lines," said Chick.
"My thinking is somebody tried to nurse it back to health and it passed away and they didn't know what to do with it. I guess the next best thing was take it into a remote area, being Birds Hill Park, and just deposit it in the bush and hope it goes away."
While Chick, who is a Winnipeg firefighter, was bothered by what he found, he wasn't all that surprised.
"I worked in the north, and quite often you'd see puppies in boxes on back roads and remote areas. It's kind of a disturbing thing and common in the north and very unfortunate," he said.
Chick wasn't sure what to do, but knew he couldn't leave the dead puppy, so he took it away and gave it a proper burial.
"I just thought it would be the right thing to do," he said.
'Irregular' cases rare: Humane Society
"When it comes to more suspicious or irregular cases like this we only see under 10 in a year of animals left in a place like that," said Kyle Jahns, communications co-ordinator with the Winnipeg Humane Society.
Jahns said the Humane Society often gets calls about deceased animals that had been hit by a vehicle, but it's not often someone comes across a dead pet in a public park.
"If you do, call your local RM or the City of Winnipeg," said Jahns.
Javier Schwersensky, chief executive officer of the Humane Society, said people should also consider calling police as well as the Humane Society's animal care line if the circumstances appear suspicious.
"We will go and take a look and people should not touch anything until we arrive during the hours of 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., which is when we have units available to take a look at situations like that," he said.
"I think it was very poor taste leaving it in the bush like that for somebody to come across and it could have been the wrong people, like a group of children," said Chick.
"They would be traumatized. Nobody likes to see a dead puppy."
Jahns said deceased pets should not be left in a public place or tossed in the trash. He said pet owners should contact their veterinarians for options on proper disposal, or can chose to bury deceased pets in their yards.
Anyone who comes across a dead animal should call the Winnipeg Humane Society animal abuse line at 204-982-2028.
