Jerry found a forever home and Ben is on the road to recovery thanks to help from Critter Aid.
The two cane-Corso dogs were found emaciated on New Year’s Eve in the Joe Rich area of Kelowna.
The older of the two dogs, Ben, was found in shocking conditions.
“The amount of emaciation that Ben has is not quick. It’s not an ‘I didn’t feed my dog for a couple of days’,” said Critter Aid dog house director Arlene Dunstan-Adams. “This takes weeks, it takes a very long time to get to that point. He is less than half of the body weight that he should be.”
Ben, a brown male, was also found with a broken jaw and 20 puncture wounds.
Jerry, a tan and white male, was in better condition than his partner.
“Judging by the fact that there was no frostbite or cold-related injuries on the dogs I can’t imagine them being up there for very long,” Dunstan-Adams said. “Two weeks ago it was so cold in the Okanagan and we had all of that snow and in Ben’s condition, there’s no way he would have survived if he was outside during that point in time. I can’t imagine either of them being dumped up there for longer than a couple of days.”
But dumped is what Critter Aid believes happened, and likely together, as intact males don’t typically get along unless they know each other from a young age.
“We’ve had nobody in that area come forward,” which Dunstan-Adams said just confirms the theory of abandonment.
“If somebody had called us and said ‘hey I made a mistake, I did something really bad and I need help with these dogs’ we would have stepped in. No judgement. I just want the safety of those two boys, that’s all I care about. That’s why I’m here, that’s why Critter Aid is here.”
Jerry has found himself a new home with his rescuers, being adopted by the couple who found him.
Ben, however, will remain in foster care while gaining weight ahead of surgery. His recovery is expected to take three to five months.
Dunstan-Adams said she is beyond thankful for community support and noted the work the animal sanctuary does is only possible through donations and volunteers.
Donations can be made at critteraid.org.
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