He was tied to a fence and abandoned in a busy Richmond neighbourhood.
His only possession was a hand-written note from his owner, detailing his medical history and his favourite toys.
Now, Ace the Yorkshire terrier is winning the hearts and minds of everyone at the Richmond Animal Protection Society (RAPS) shelter after a kind member of the public rescued the dog.
And within a week or two, it’s highly likely Ace — who was found leashed to a fence near a park at Cambie and No. 5 roads at the end of May — will be adopted into a new and loving home.
“Obviously the owner loved him, because he has been cared for, to a certain extent, and he or she wrote a long note about Ace,” said Wendy Riley, RAPS’ community development coordinator.
“A man noticed that Ace had been tied up for a while. It’s hard to know how long he was there; it could have been overnight.
“The note said that he has screws in his hips after a car accident and we’ve found he has a collapsed trachea (windpipe), which is pretty severe for him.
“He was very stressed out to start with, but we’re really getting to know him now and he’s a very sweet little dog.”
The abandoning of people’s pets is an ongoing concern in Richmond, added Riley.
“There was no reason to just tie him up and dump him,” she said. “They could very easily have brought him to us.
“Anybody who can’t look after their pet, for any reason, can bring them to us or any other rescue centre and no questions will be asked.”
If you love them that much, said Riley, “just bring them to us and we’ll look after them.”
Riley said RAPS is now accepting adoption applications for Ace and he’ll be ready for a new home very soon.
If you’d like to meet Ace, he’ll be making an appearance on June 13 at RAPS’ dog adoption event at Pet Food and More at 9100 Blundell Rd.
*Meanwhile, RAPS is hosting its thrift store 10-year anniversary sale on June 20 at its thrift store location at 8260 Granville Ave., along with a small animal adoption event at the sale in hopes of finding the bunnies and many other small RAPS animals a new home.
