A man whose dog was found stabbed to death and his two cats slain told his ex-wife "they've all gone to heaven" before she found them in a freezer.
The Richmond resident co-owned the pets with his former partner Latia Del Riviero, but he was keeping them until she could take them permanently, she said.
Del Riviero said she called her ex about the animals on Oct. 7, only to be given a cryptic message that they were no longer alive.
She went to his basement suite in the 9500-block of Garden City Road to find the cats' litter boxes and food thrown out onto the driveway. She then went into the home and made the gruesome discovery.
Del Riviero found her cats, Pepper and Liston, and her 70-pound boxer Maza, stuffed into the home's freezer.
The cats were dead, but the dog was still alive, she said.
"He pointed to the freezer and I ran to the freezer. She was in a plastic bag and her pupils were solid red. She lifted up her head -- she was still alive. She was stabbed in the chest."
Richmond Mounties and animal protection officers attended the home a short time later. The boxer could not be saved.
Del Riviero said she told Mounties that the boxer was still alive when officers arrived, but authorities refused "to do anything."
Lorie Chortyk of the SPCA told ctvbc.ca that when its agents arrived the man put all three of the animals in a Rubbermaid bin on the lawn.
"There were multiple stab wounds on the dog and severe trauma to all three animals. It's pretty disturbing," she said.
Del Riviero said her former partner had been fired from his job as a cabinet maker just two days before and was quite distraught.
She said he had been on medication for depression for a long time but insisted that he really loved his pets.
"He always goes home and cuddles the cats – they always cuddle with him. He's a real animal lover but he's had some real up and downs."
Mounties have handed over the case to the SPCA. The agency is now awaiting necropsy results on the dead pets before it forwards animal cruelty charges to Crown.
The suspect has refused to speak with case investigators, Chortyk said.
