An on-line petition demanding that Steven Helfer, 24, of Ottawa, face the stiffest maximum sentence possible as a signal message from the community that they will not stand for the vicious abuse that he heaped on his mother's year-and-a-half-old Labrador-shepherd cross has garnered the support of almost 95,000 people seeking justice on behalf of Breezy. The petition was found on www.care2.com.

The dog who suffered the worst kind of excess of human-delivered violence, has rallied and will survive the dreadful beating she sustained.

Breezy, the Labrador-shepherd cross beaten with a shovel and left for dead Oct. 16, made a public debut Monday.  Photograph by: Pat McGrath, Ottawa Citizen

 

She was abandoned for dead, beaten unmercifully, and bleeding and broken taken in a wheelbarrow over to a dumpster where she was left to die. The young man was angered by his mother refusing to admit him into her house, and she watched through a window as he grabbed a shovel and began beating her dog. When neighbours witnessing what was occurring attempted to intervene, they were threatened by the young man.

His mother had grabbed the telephone to call police urging them to "hurry, hurry. My son Steven is killing the dog". After the dog had been left in the dumpster to die, neighbours approached and were appalled by the sight of blood everywhere. "He was all cut about the head. Every time he exhaled you could see blood coming out of his nose", said one neighbour.



The dog was rushed to a veterinarian by the Humane Society for emergency medical attention. It wasn't certain at that time, on October 16, that the dog could be saved.The man was charged with criminal harassment, intimidation, injuring or endangering animals, and wilfully causing unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal, along with two counts of assault with a weapon.

Breezy has since had teeth removed and lacerations stitched. She may yet lose one of her eyes.

In the aftermath of the dreadful event, news stories detailing what had occurred brought the public's attention to the atrocity. Hundreds of offers to adopt Breezy have flooded into the offices of the Humane Society. She has now made her first public appearance since that dreadful day in her young life. "Her personality's really starting to come out now. She's friendly, she's affectionate, she likes to play", said Bruce Roney, executive director of the Ottawa Humane Society.

Breezy, the Labrador-shepherd cross beaten with a shovel and left for dead Oct. 16, made a public debut Monday. Photograph by: Pat McGrath, Ottawa Citizen