Copper, the dog that was stabbed in a random attack in Kitsilano at the weekend, is making great strides in his recovery.
Rose Steinmeier was walking Copper, a 10-year-old golden retriever-rottweiler mix, near West 4th Avenue and Yew Street, when a man allegedly began stabbing the friendly pooch out of nowhere on Sunday morning.
Steinmeier told Global news she saw a man covered in blood and tried to cross the street to avoid him, when Copper stopped to smell a pole.
“I turned back in time to see him knock my dog over, straddle him, and begin stabbing,” she told Global news.
Copper suffered injuries to his back and was treated at an emergency animal hospital on Sunday. He is now at home recovering, but still requires more vet checks.
In an update on the Gofundme page – Veterinary Care for Copper – on Monday night Steinmeier’s best friend, Adriana W. Van Leeuwen, said Copper was “looking really good.”
“It's all good news from the vet: the swelling is already visibly subsiding, the bruising isn't spreading, he's cheerful and friendly as ever,” she wrote on the crowdfunding page.
“The vet opted to leave the bandages off his wounds to speed healing, so I've donated one of my own shirts to the cause to keep him from scratching at them.
“He'll be going back again on Friday for his next checkup, at which point we'll have a longer-term idea of things.
"If anything changes before Friday, I will let you all know immediately, but for now let's be tentatively hopeful."
The crowdfunding page was set up by Van Leeuwen, who wanted to help her friend pay for the expensive vet bills. It has now raised more than $5000.
“A million thanks to the dozens of people who have donated already; Rose and I are both overwhelmed by and profoundly grateful for the outpouring of sympathy and support she and Copper have received since yesterday morning,” she wrote.
“There is so much unsung good in the world; if I could sing you all from the mountaintops, I would,”
Police arrested the alleged offender nearby the scene on Sunday morning.
He was also arrested in relation to the alleged stabbing of a man in his late 20s near West 13th Avenue that same morning.
Any donations that vet bills do not eat up will be donated to the BC SPCA Animal Hospital in Vancouver.
To donate head to: Veterinary Care for Copper
