RCMP in B.C. search for suspect after four-month-old puppy fatally shot UPDATE #10

[pomtzu]

I really shouldn't read posts such as this - sooo upsetting. I hope these ba$tads get what they deserve - and then some!! That poor family - they have been thru so much. I hope that they will be safe, since one of the individuals that shot the dog, caused trouble with the family in the past. I would be fearful of my own safety as well as that of my family. How tragic to have to live that way.

[Catty1]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/08091..._puppy_breeder

Breeder offers Quadra Island boy new puppy

Wed Sep 17, 11:05 AM

VANCOUVER (CBC) - A Surrey, B.C., dog breeder is offering another puppy to the 12-year-old Quadra Island boy whose Jack Russell terrier was shot and killed last Saturday.

A Surrey, B.C., dog breeder is offering another puppy to the 12-year-old Quadra Island boy whose Jack Russell terrier was shot and killed last Saturday.

Just three weeks ago, Lois Clough had sold the 14-week-old terrier to the family of Max Rose. Clough said she was appalled when she heard the puppy had been shot on Saturday morning.

"As soon as I heard about it, I knew right away he was going to have another one of my terriers and money wasn't the issue. He needed to have one and he needed to have one when he was ready," said Clough.

The dog, Seymour, was bought to lift the spirits of Max as he recovers from treatment for brain cancer. The puppy was also a replacement for another dog that had recently died.

"I have sent them photos of puppies, and when they are ready to pick out, they are going to," said Clough.

Nick Rose said the support they've received since his son's dog was shot has been overwhelming.

"We've had so many people offering puppies, offering help," said Rose on Tuesday.

Neighbours on Quadra Island are also collecting money to help the Rose family pay off the loan they originally took out to buy Seymour. A Jack Russell terrier puppy can cost upward of $1,000.

Seymour was killed on Saturday morning after he wandered off the family's rural property to follow a pair of men who appeared to be hunting as they walked past and down the road.

A short time later Rose and his son heard a gunshot and ran to the road to find the men standing next to the quivering body of the dog.

On Monday night, a 31-year-old man turned himself in to Westshore RCMP and told police shooting the dog was an accident, Cpl. Craig Peterson told CBC News.

Quadra Island RCMP are recommending that Cody Wellard, 31, be charged with careless use of a firearm and endangering an animal, said Peterson.

[Emeraldgreen]

I'm at work so will post a quick note but I heard from another islander today that the new puppy is arriving by helicopter today from the breeder. Was supposed to get here around noon.

[Emeraldgreen]

I ran into Nick's daughter after work and asked her if the puppy had arrived. She looked really happy and said that he had. I asked her what they had named him and she said 'Leo'.
Nothing will bring back Seymour but hopefully this new puppy will help them heal.
The local b.c. news was just on and the story came on about the new puppy. I grabbed my camera to film it and my batteries died after a few seconds and then once I changed those, my digital photo card said it was full!! So the film is broken up but you can see the new puppy arriving. It's rather grainy because I had the camera too close to the tv.
At the end, the news showed two pics of Cody Wellard, the guy who shot Seymour.
I don't know if this was already mentioned in this thread but unbelievably, this guy has a dog and it's a Jack Russell!!! The news crew went to his house in Victoria and his dog 'Ebay' was barking in the window and Cody would not come to the door.
Here is the footage of the new puppy. I'll see if I can get a better clip of it when it re-airs at 11:00p.m.

Leo the new pup:

[Medusa]

I think the only accident that took place is Wellard's birth.

The puppy is adorable and I sure do hope that the family has many good years w/Leo and that now they'll be on the road to healing. Bless the person who donated Leo.

[Catty1]

Here's a pic of Leo, the new puppy, with breeder Lois Clough. Puppy cuteness can bring a bit of light into any darkness.

[Catty1]

Please pray for the healing and safety of the Rose family - details in the article below (BTW, I believe the police went to the house and removed all the firearms).

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/ne...d-5d909c41aab8

Family fears for safety after puppy shot dead
Boy, 12, recovering from brain cancer, devastated by killing
Suzanne Fournier, The Province
Published: Tuesday, September 16, 2008

A Quadra Island family is "traumatized" by the deliberate shooting of their Jack Russell puppy who brought joy and comfort to 12-year-old cancer survivor Max Rose.

Max's mother Sue Rose is concerned because the alleged shooter's father lives nearby and had more than 20 firearms.

Max's father Nick Rose said the puppy was shot in a "horrific act of cowardice" on Saturday morning right outside their rural home.

He said it was "an act of revenge" that left his family "distraught and sobbing by the side of the road."

"My poor boy had to be physically restrained because he wanted to go get the guy who killed his puppy, armed only with a pair of blunt scissors," said Rose, whose son Max is recovering from brain cancer.

"I wonder if this big man with a gun would have stood up to a 12-year-old cancer survivor with tears in his eyes and a pair of blunt scissors."

Nick said he and Max were cutting firewood when their "friendly little furball ran out to say hi" to two hunters coming from a nearby woodlot, carrying guns that were not "broken" in a disarmed position.

There was a loud shotgun blast.

"I ran around the bush to find to my horror and shock our 16-week-old terrier, his legs quivering in death throes and his head partly blown off," said Nick, who screamed in horror at the shooter, who he recognized as the man who crashed a Rose family party four years ago.

"You can imagine the horror and pain I felt, but it was outweighed a thousandfold by the pain I feel for my children at having to witness this crime."

He said the two men ran to a nearby home.

Max said yesterday he loved his puppy Seymour who was "really friendly" and was helping him forget the dog he'd lost only three weeks ago -- Speedy, who was Seymour's older brother.

Speedy had to be put down after glaucoma and an injury left him blind.

Nick said Seymour had "my kids laughing and smiling again, like they hadn't done since before our son was diagnosed with cancer."

Max said shyly that his school offered a counsellor, "but I didn't want to talk. I want this man to be put in jail for the rest of his life for what he did to my puppy. All day people at school said they were sorry my puppy got shot, but I'm still really upset."

Max's mom said the alleged shooter's family lives nearby "and now my children don't feel safe in their own home."

"I don't think this family will do anything to us, but when a puppy is shot right outside your home, and you know this family has dozens of guns, it does make you worry."

Nick Rose, who works for a building supply company on Quadra Island, said that "not 10 minutes after the crime, [B]the father of this[/B] fine upstanding individual showed up at our home. This family is bad news, just white trash."

"He said, 'Big deal. So my son shot a dog and it just had to be your dog -- here, take my mutt,' and then he tried to remove Seymour's body."

Nick said he thinks the alleged shooter was "carrying a grudge" because he was charged by police after crashing Nick's 40th birthday party. "They were groping women and making racial slurs against natives," said Nick, who threw the two men off the property.

When Nick accompanied a female guest to her car, he says the two jumped him and a fight broke out, with one of them holding Nick down and biting him in the face until neighbours came to the rescue.

One of the gatecrashers suffered a broken leg in the fracas; neither of them was convicted.

Quadra Island RCMP Cpl. Craig Peterson confirmed that the two hunters left the island before police could talk to them but that one of them, the alleged shooter, phoned from Greater Victoria and promised to turn himself in.

"He hasn't done so yet but he knows we'll put out a warrant for his arrest as soon as we get charge approval," said Peterson, who said he is waiting for Crown counsel to approve charges of dangerous use of a firearm and endangering an animal.

"We're taking this incident very seriously and the perpetrator could go to jail," said Peterson.

RCMP confiscated more than 20 weapons, but Peterson said they were all legal hunting firearms and wouldn't confirm where they were seized.

Peterson said police have spoken to Cody Wellard and are hoping he will turn himself in.

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© The Vancouver Province 2008