Dog Left to Starve at Shuttered Doggy Daycare on the Mend

A poor dog abandoned at a facility that used to be a doggy daycare is on the road to recovery. The dog, now named Gator, was found locked in a kennel completely by chance.

Gator at the BC SPCA

The BC SCPA was alerted to Gator’s plight after people who were thinking of opening a doggy daycare in a space that had been used as one before. They contacted the owner of the building in Vancouver, British Columbia, to visit the facility only to discover Gator and another dog. The other dog was sadly dead.

As for Gator, he was dehydrated, starving and covered in pounds of matted fur from having sat in a kennel filled with urine and feces.

Gator has been rescued by BC SPCA.

“The matting was so tight to his skin his movements were very slow and painful,” Jodi Dunlop, manager of Vancouver BC SPCA, in a statement. They added that they weren’t fully aware of just how emaciated he was until they shaved off the 4 kilos of fur.  He also had a badly infected ear and damaged teeth, likely from trying to get out of the metal kennel.

The BC SPCA is not naming the former daycare due to an ongoing investigation.

Gator is thought to be around 6 years old and a Briard or Doodle mix. Dunlop said that despite his horrific ordeal, Gator is a good-natured dog.

“You would think that Gator would be changed by what happened to him, but he’s a total sweetie,” she said. “He is so grateful to be saved and absolutely loves people and attention. He has a zest for life and the will to live!”

Gator will go into foster care sometime in August after he’s more fully recovered and then put up for adoption.

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