Dogs are smart.
Dogs are smart.
Humans are not.
Muzzled and unable to bark for help, Kiki the Husky found another way to alert helpful humans to his sad health – honking a car horn.
London police say the Husky, left in deplorable conditions in a moving van, honked the horn until someone came to his aid.
When police discovered the van on Monday in a downtown parking lot, they found Kiki, a 13-year-old Husky, honking the horn.
“The dogs were muzzled so they couldn’t make a sound. I think he figured out how to use the horn. Dogs are very smart, they watch us all the time,” said Judy Foster, the executive director of the London Humane Society, which is now looking after the dogs.
Along with Kiki the Humane Society seized two Husky-Rottweiler crosses, Buddy and Six-toes, each about four or five years old.
Six-toes got her name because she has six toes.
Two cats, a male and a female, in a crate were also discovered in the moving van.
There was no food available for the dogs or cats, Foster said.
The police investigation into the matter actually started Dec. 3, when the Humane Society got a call from neighbours concerned for the welfare of three dogs living in unsanitary conditions in an apartment unit of a home in central London.
That night, however, the owners left the home and took the animals with them, avoiding London Humane Society officers.
Later, on Dec. 10, a concerned citizen called police about the moving truck that had been sitting in a parking lot for days.
Kiki, in the front seat of the van, had started honking the vehicle horn, drawing attention to his predicament.
Donna Herbert and Allan Folkins-Wyre have been charged with three counts each of causing an animal to be in distress, one count of failing to provide necessary care and one count of failing to provide adequate and appropriate sanitary conditions.
They also face five criminal code charges of cruelty to animals.
The dogs and cats were seized and are currently in the care of the London Humane Society.
“We don’t know how long the animals were in the van alone, we don’t know the last time the owners came out to feed them,” Foster said.
“But you can’t have cats and dogs living in a U-haul.”
The dogs are in poor body condition. They have signs that they weren’t properly cared for even before the moving-van ordeal.
“Hopefully we’ll get them back up to 100%,” Foster said.
Once the dogs are “no longer in distress,” the owners can claim them back if they pay a fine and the cost of their care, Foster said, pending the outcome of the criminal charges.
“It’s unfortunate that that’s the way it works,” she said.
Kiki, Buddy and Six-toes and the two cats are enjoying food and treats, she added.