Pit bull is fat and happy after rescue

VICTORIA - Waggling his chubby bum, in lieu of a non-existent tail, Buddy rolls on his back, waving paws in the air.

The middle-aged pit bull, known to Victoria SPCA staff as Fat Buddy, loves people.

The puzzle is why the grey-muzzled dog wants human attention when, until October, there seemed to be little in his life to inspire trust.

The well-padded pit bull is a far cry from October photos showing Buddy hunched over, chained to the side of a West Saanich Road house with ribs protruding.

Buddy’s owner is one of three people charged with animal cruelty in three separate Saanich peninsula cases investigated by the SPCA involving neglect of pit bulls.

Curtis Claxton of Central Saanich and Sam Joe and Thelma David of North Saanich are expected to make their first court appearance Jan. 16.

“Buddy was attached to a heavy chain at the side of the house with no shelter and his ribs, vertebrae and pelvic bones were clearly visible,” said Erika Paul, SPCA animal protection officer.

The owner claimed he was fed every day, but there was no underlying health condition which stopped him from gaining weight, she said.

“He’s sort of a sausage now. He tends to binge,” said Paul.

“That’s not unusual when they’re starved.”

However, Claxton told CHEK News that Buddy would not eat.

“He wasn’t neglected. I’d feed him and he wouldn’t eat. He’d dump food I gave him. I was told he had cancer,” he said.

Three adult pit bulls and eight puppies ranging from five weeks to six months old were seized from Joe and an eight-week-old puppy was seized from David, who lives in the same house.

“The animals were chained to tires, cars and other items in various locations throughout the yard and driveway,” Paul said.

“They didn’t have adequate food or water and one of the adult females was so thin she scored only 2.5 out of 9 on a body conditioning scale.”

A puppy named Boston, owned by David, was emaciated, dehydrated and critically ill, and was rushed to the vet for emergency treatment, said Paul.

“Sadly, it was too late to save his life. It’s very tragic because the owner could certainly have prevented Boston’s death by providing proper care for him,” she said.

But David told CHEK News that the puppies always came inside at night and there were dog houses around the yard.

“I tied them up to the car because it didn’t move,” she said.

All the other dogs were nursed back to health and — except for Buddy who is still looking for a home — have been adopted.

SPCA employee Kelley Murphy adopted D-Bo, one of the puppies, who is now a rambunctious five-month-old.

“I don’t think he has any memory of when he was all tied up and so skinny. They’re pretty resilient,” she said, watching him chasing another dog around in circles.

All the dogs were seized from reserve land following complaints from the public.

“The aboriginal community is more shocked than anyone about this sort of thing,” Paul said.

It is a common misapprehension that the SPCA cannot take action on first nations land, when, in fact, both federal and provincial legislation is enforceable.

The only difference is that municipal animal control bylaws do not apply on reserve land and first nations have their own animal control contracts.

Another myth is that the SPCA cannot act if the animal has food, shelter and water, Paul said.

“We can act if there’s psychological distress. We are getting more and more successful in getting people charged with neglect and causing distress to an animal because of tethering or isolation,” she said.

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Font:****In 2007, Victoria SPCA investigated 421 cruelty complaints, executed 11 warrants, seized 73 animals and laid six charges.

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