Day two of a high-profile animal abuse trial in Duncan saw tears shed in the courtroom as SPCA officials testified.
The court heard from BC SPCA Provincial Constables Thomas Affleck and Toni Morrison Friday morning.
Affleck and Morrison were the first SPCA officers to respond to reports of a dog, Teddy, with a bucket stuck on his head at a Duncan residence.
Upon arriving they realized that what they thought was a bucket was instead the dog's head, swollen to nearly three times its normal size.
Seeing the dog's emaciated body and swollen head, the constables immediately issued a Critical Distress Notice, court heard.
The following day Affleck returned with two police officers.
He said Teddy was found surrounded by many piles of feces and was tangled up in his short tether.
Teddy was cut free and taken to the Duncan Animal Hospital, where he later died of his condition days later. Morrison said when they cut the dog loose he "crumpled to the ground."
The grisly details had many people attending the trial at the Duncan Law Courts visibly in tears.
Anderson Joe and Melissa Tooshley were arrested on cruelty charges in connection with the dog's condition.
Joe and Tooshley initially pleaded not guilty to charges of failing to provide necessities for an animal, and Joe pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal.
But on day one of the trial Wednesday, Tooshley changed her plea to gulity/ Joe continues to plead his innocence.
The court was expected to call Tooshley to the stand later Friday on day two of the three-day trial.
