Dogs in ‘horrendous’ condition after being abandoned in rural southern Ontario

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At least 25 dogs were dropped off in several different rural locations last week, in such poor health that most of them lost their hair.

Animal rescue organizations say 25 Shih Tzus were dumped in fields in Oxford County, Cambridge and Flamborough last week.

“It sounds like a puppy mill dump. It sounds like someone was mass breeding Shih Tzus and decided they were not making money anymore because they were so neglected and in ill health that they decided to just dump the whole lot,” says Lisa Winn of Ladybird Animal Sanctuary in Hamilton.

Winn took in two of the dogs who require extensive veterinary care.

“Horrendous. They’re in awful, awful condition. They have mange, a lot of them have open wounds from scratching so much,” says Winn.

The other dogs are with various animal rescue organizations like Fur Warriors in Hamilton and Mattie’s Place in Toronto, which took in 11 of the Shih Tzus. One of the dogs had a seizure Sunday and remains at the vet.

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“We found out yesterday one is pregnant. Sadly, too far along to terminate the pregnancy. There are some others that we will terminate, that are early on. The last thing we need right now are puppies in an overpopulation crisis,” says Denise Angus with Mattie’s Place.

Angus says the mange is so bad on the dogs that many of them are hairless.

“Our medical team doesn’t believe many of them will even grow their hair back. They are now so pigmented and the skin is so diseased and damaged that I don’t think hair follicles can grow more fur … They will probably be hairless Shih Tzus,” says Angus.

City of Hamilton Animal Control Services – which has seven of the dogs – says any enforcement action or investigation would be led by Provincial Animal Welfare Services (PAWS).

“The laws governing animal care and this kind of situation are not the greatest for animals. There are not a lot of laws that protect animals. This is just going to keep happening if people keep buying dogs, buying puppies from Kijiji and places like that,” says Winn.

The rescue organizations are taking donations, and the vet bills are expected to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

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