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Animal cruelty officers are investigating a disturbing case involving a dead dog that was frozen into a block of ice and left in the yard of a Dawson Creek man.

The man discovered the dog Jan. 15, but told officers he had no idea why its frozen body was left on his property.

"I thought I'd seen everything, but when I opened that [file] up I was blown away. It's so disturbing. We want some answers," said Marcie Moriarty, general manager of the BC SPCA's cruelty investigations. "Anyone who would do something so sick — I'm concerned if they have other animals in their custody."

Moriarty said the case is such a mystery that investigators are asking for the public's help, hoping someone may have known the black dog or witnessed it being dropped off in the yard of the unidentified Dawson Creek man. She said the man does not have pets, did not know the dog and has no idea why the animal was left in his yard.

"The only salvation is we just found out the dog died before being placed in there. It had puncture wounds consistent with being in a dog fight and all of his intestines were missing," Moriarty said.

It's possible another animal ate part of the dog's intestines, but she said it appears the 18-kilogram (40-pound) dog was owned by somebody because it had a healthy weight. She also noted that feral dogs don't usually survive winters in B.C.'s north because the weather is so cold.

She said the SPCA wants to find out who was responsible for placing the dog in the block of ice, which looks to have been made using a large rubber bin.

By Thursday, public outrage about the dog's discovery had spread internationally with calls of concern coming from as far away as New Zealand.

But despite the high media profile so far not one tip has come in identifying either the dog or its owner to either the RCMP or the BC SPCA.

"People are emotional about it," said Dawson Creek RCMP Cpl. David Ossinger..

The BC SPCA conducts nearly 6,000 cruelty investigations a year and last year seized 1,000 animals and executed 133 search warrants in order to gather evidence in animal cruelty complaint cases.

Moriarty pointed out the association has 24 full-time constables investigating animal complaints but could easily use double that number. It does not have a constable assigned to the Dawson Creek/Fort St. John area, but she said there are plans to get an officer in that area of northern B.C. in the near future.

The problem is funding, she said.

"We're the only animal agency with authority to investigate animal cruelty. We have a $2.2 million [annual] budget and zero dollars of that are from government," she said.

"Living in a province that likes to think of themselves as very environmental and progressive it may come as a shock we're one of the few provinces in Canada that receives zero funding from government to protect animals."

Moriarty added the work cruelty investigators do could possibly prevent harm to people since studies have shown some criminals who have injured and killed other humans began their criminal careers torturing animals.

Anyone with information about the frozen dog is asked to please call the South Peace SPCA Branch at 250-782-2444.

Meanwhile, a northern non-profit rescue association called Turtle Gardens Rescue, still has three puppies they are trying to find homes for who were nearly frozen to death before Christmas. The puppies, which are sheltie spaniel mix, were discovered under an open porch living in -29 C weather. Their names are Glacier, Winter and Miss Freezie, whose eyelids were literally frozen shut when they were picked up.

Turtle Gardens founder Yvette Labatte said there were six puppies, but one died one hour after being brought indoors and two others were adopted locally in the Burns Lake area.

While the two males, Glacier and Winter, now 12 weeks old, did not suffer any eye damage Miss Freezie did suffer some permanent vision loss.

"She was the smallest pup and being the weakest was pushed out. The mom had the puppies after digging a hole in the snow underneath an open patio of someone's home," said Labatte.

The mother has been spayed and vaccinated and will soon be going to her new adoptive home in Vancouver.

kpemberton@vancouversun.com

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