Justice for The Rose Family

A Quadra Island family is "traumatized" by the deliberate shooting of their Jack Russell puppy who brought joy and comfort to 12-year-old cancer survivor Max Rose.

Max's mother Sue Rose is concerned because the alleged shooter's father lives nearby and had more than 20 firearms.

"Now my children don't feel safe in their own home," she said.

Max's farther Nick Rose said the puppy was shot in a "horrific act of cowardice" on Saturday morning right outside their rural home.

He said it was "an act of revenge" that left his family "distraught and sobbing by the side of the road."

"My poor boy had to be physically retrained because he wanted to go get the guy who killed his puppy, armed only with a pair of blunt scissors," said Rose, whose son Max is recovering from brain cancer.

"I wonder if this big man with a gun would have stood up to a 12-year-old cancer survivor with tears in his eyes and a pair of blunt scissors."

Nick said he and Max were cutting firewood when their "friendly little furball ran out to say hi" to two hunters coming from a nearby woodlot, carrying guns that were not "broken" in a disarmed position.

There was a loud shotgun blast.

"I ran around the bush to find to my horror and shock our 16-week-old terrier, his legs quivering in death throes and his head partly blown off," said Nick, who screamed in horror at the shooters, who he recognized as the man who crashed a Rose family party four years ago.

"You can imagine the horror and pain I felt, but it was outweighed a thousandfold by the pain I feel for my children at having to witness this crime."

He said the two men ran to a nearby home.

Max said yesterday he loved his puppy Seymour who was "really friendly" and was helping him forget the dog he'd lost only three weeks ago - Speedy, who was Seymour's older brother.

Speedy had to be put down after glaucoma and an injury left him blind.

Nick said Seymour had "my kids laughing and smiling again, like they hadn't done since before our son was diagnosed with cancer."

Max said shyly that his school offered a counsellor, "but I didn't want to talk. I want this man to be put in jail for the rest of his life for what he did to my puppy. All day people at school said they were sorry my puppy got shot, but I'm still really upset."

Max's mom said the alleged shooter's family lives nearby "and now my children don't feel safe in their own home."

"I don't think this family will do anything to us, but when a puppy is shot right outside your home, and you know this family has dozens of guns, it does make you worry."

Nick Rose, who works for a building supply company on Quadra Island, said that "not 10 minutes after the crime, the father of this fine upstanding individual showed up at our home. This family is bad news, just white trash."

"He said, 'Big deal. So my son shot a dog and it just had to be your dog - here, take my mutt,' and then he tried to remove Seymour's body."

Nick said he thinks the alleged shooter was "carrying a grudge" because he was charged by police after crashing Nick's 40th birthday party. "They were groping women and making racial slurs against natives," said Nick, who threw the two men off the property.

When Nick accompanied a female guest to her car, he says the two jumped him and a fight broke out, with one of them holding Nick down and biting him in the face until neighbors came to the rescue.

One of the gatecrashers suffered a broken leg in the fracas; neither of them was convicted.

Quadra Island RCMP Cpl. Craig Peterson confirmed that the two hunters left the island before police could talk to them but that one of them, the alleged shooter, phoned from Greater Victoria and promised to turn himself in.

"He hasn't done so yet but he knows we'll put out a warrant for his arrest as soon as we get charge approval," said Peterson, who said he is waiting for Crown counsel to approve charges of dangerous use of a firearm and endangering an animal.

"We're taking this incident very seriously and the perpetrator could go to jail," said Peterson.

RCMP confiscated more than 20 weapons, but Peterson said they were all legal hunting firearms and wouldn't confirm where they were seized.

Peterson said the police have spoken to Cody Wellard and are hoping he will turn himself in.

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The man suspected of shooting and killing a four-month-old Jack Russell puppy on B.C.'s Quadra Island has turned himself in to police.

Cody Wellard, 31, turned himself into the Westshore detachment Monday. His facebook profile shows him as an outdoorsman with with looks to be a large halibut. He belongs to several facebook sites with names like Coyote Ugly and pugs of Prince Albert.

Wellard is accused of shooting the puppy, Seymour, just metres away from its home on Quadra Island Saturday morning. Owner Nick Rose was outside doing chores with his three young sons doing chores at the time.

Rose said the puppy bounded out of the yard to meet two hunters walking down the road, one of whom he was familiar with.

That's when the puppy was shot in the head.

"I ran to the end of our driveway and looked around the corner and there was our little puppy, quivering in his death-throes at the side of the road," Rose told CTV News.

The dog was a gift to son Max to mark the end of his three-year cancer treatment.

Wellard told police the shooting was an accident but did not provide any further details. He was released on a promise to appear in Campbell River court on October 13. Police are seeking charges for careless use of a firearm and endangering an animal.

Quadra Island police are still looking for one other man in connection with the dog's death. If the case does go to court, the SPCA says that until federal laws relating to animal cruelty are changed, it will be difficult to prove intent.

"The reality is that with this outdated law, very few cases will actually see conviction," said Marcie Moriarty of the BC SPCA.

The Rose family says the killing has been a traumatizing experience for their three sons, especially after Max's battle with cancer.

"My kids were happy and laughing like they haven't been in years," said Rose. "My son in particular since before he was diagnosed with cancer I hadn't heard those kind of giggles and that kind of laughter out of him."

Meanwhile, one Victoria businessman has said he wants to donate $500 to buy Max a new puppy.



I would actually like to see something done to the two men who were involved in this vicious attack on an innocent animal that couldn't defend himself. Too many animal cruelty cases get pushed aside and I don't think it's fair one bit. They can't speak for themselves so why don't we do exactly that.
If we had a justice system and not a legal system, these men would get exactly what they deserve and NOT just a slap on the wrist. It isn't enough.
This man could have shot anybody in the neighborhood if what he claims is true (it was an accident). If it wasn't an accident why did Cody Wellard and the other man involved run away from the scene? Doesn't add up, does it?
The family was outside at the time on the incident. What if he had hit the father, or the child.. or anybody else for the matter?
Thats why I believe it wasn't an accident and he should be penalized for what he has done.

A Quadra Island family is "traumatized" by the deliberate shooting of their Jack Russell puppy who brought joy and comfort to 12-year-old cancer survivor Max Rose.

Max's mother Sue Rose is concerned because the alleged shooter's father lives nearby and had more than 20 firearms.

"Now my children don't feel safe in their own home," she said.

Max's farther Nick Rose said the puppy was shot in a "horrific act of cowardice" on Saturday morning right outside their rural home.

He said it was "an act of revenge" that left his family "distraught and sobbing by the side of the road."

"My poor boy had to be physically retrained because he wanted to go get the guy who killed his puppy, armed only with a pair of blunt scissors," said Rose, whose son Max is recovering from brain cancer.

"I wonder if this big man with a gun would have stood up to a 12-year-old cancer survivor with tears in his eyes and a pair of blunt scissors."

Nick said he and Max were cutting firewood when their "friendly little furball ran out to say hi" to two hunters coming from a nearby woodlot, carrying guns that were not "broken" in a disarmed position.

There was a loud shotgun blast.

"I ran around the bush to find to my horror and shock our 16-week-old terrier, his legs quivering in death throes and his head partly blown off," said Nick, who screamed in horror at the shooters, who he recognized as the man who crashed a Rose family party four years ago.

"You can imagine the horror and pain I felt, but it was outweighed a thousandfold by the pain I feel for my children at having to witness this crime."

He said the two men ran to a nearby home.

Max said yesterday he loved his puppy Seymour who was "really friendly" and was helping him forget the dog he'd lost only three weeks ago - Speedy, who was Seymour's older brother.

Speedy had to be put down after glaucoma and an injury left him blind.

Nick said Seymour had "my kids laughing and smiling again, like they hadn't done since before our son was diagnosed with cancer."

Max said shyly that his school offered a counsellor, "but I didn't want to talk. I want this man to be put in jail for the rest of his life for what he did to my puppy. All day people at school said they were sorry my puppy got shot, but I'm still really upset."

Max's mom said the alleged shooter's family lives nearby "and now my children don't feel safe in their own home."

"I don't think this family will do anything to us, but when a puppy is shot right outside your home, and you know this family has dozens of guns, it does make you worry."

Nick Rose, who works for a building supply company on Quadra Island, said that "not 10 minutes after the crime, the father of this fine upstanding individual showed up at our home. This family is bad news, just white trash."

"He said, 'Big deal. So my son shot a dog and it just had to be your dog - here, take my mutt,' and then he tried to remove Seymour's body."

Nick said he thinks the alleged shooter was "carrying a grudge" because he was charged by police after crashing Nick's 40th birthday party. "They were groping women and making racial slurs against natives," said Nick, who threw the two men off the property.

When Nick accompanied a female guest to her car, he says the two jumped him and a fight broke out, with one of them holding Nick down and biting him in the face until neighbors came to the rescue.

One of the gatecrashers suffered a broken leg in the fracas; neither of them was convicted.

Quadra Island RCMP Cpl. Craig Peterson confirmed that the two hunters left the island before police could talk to them but that one of them, the alleged shooter, phoned from Greater Victoria and promised to turn himself in.

"He hasn't done so yet but he knows we'll put out a warrant for his arrest as soon as we get charge approval," said Peterson, who said he is waiting for Crown counsel to approve charges of dangerous use of a firearm and endangering an animal.

"We're taking this incident very seriously and the perpetrator could go to jail," said Peterson.

RCMP confiscated more than 20 weapons, but Peterson said they were all legal hunting firearms and wouldn't confirm where they were seized.

Peterson said the police have spoken to Cody Wellard and are hoping he will turn himself in.

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The man suspected of shooting and killing a four-month-old Jack Russell puppy on B.C.'s Quadra Island has turned himself in to police.

Cody Wellard, 31, turned himself into the Westshore detachment Monday. His facebook profile shows him as an outdoorsman with with looks to be a large halibut. He belongs to several facebook sites with names like Coyote Ugly and pugs of Prince Albert.

Wellard is accused of shooting the puppy, Seymour, just metres away from its home on Quadra Island Saturday morning. Owner Nick Rose was outside doing chores with his three young sons doing chores at the time.

Rose said the puppy bounded out of the yard to meet two hunters walking down the road, one of whom he was familiar with.

That's when the puppy was shot in the head.

"I ran to the end of our driveway and looked around the corner and there was our little puppy, quivering in his death-throes at the side of the road," Rose told CTV News.

The dog was a gift to son Max to mark the end of his three-year cancer treatment.

Wellard told police the shooting was an accident but did not provide any further details. He was released on a promise to appear in Campbell River court on October 13. Police are seeking charges for careless use of a firearm and endangering an animal.

Quadra Island police are still looking for one other man in connection with the dog's death. If the case does go to court, the SPCA says that until federal laws relating to animal cruelty are changed, it will be difficult to prove intent.

"The reality is that with this outdated law, very few cases will actually see conviction," said Marcie Moriarty of the BC SPCA.

The Rose family says the killing has been a traumatizing experience for their three sons, especially after Max's battle with cancer.

"My kids were happy and laughing like they haven't been in years," said Rose. "My son in particular since before he was diagnosed with cancer I hadn't heard those kind of giggles and that kind of laughter out of him."

Meanwhile, one Victoria businessman has said he wants to donate $500 to buy Max a new puppy.



I would actually like to see something done to the two men who were involved in this vicious attack on an innocent animal that couldn't defend himself. Too many animal cruelty cases get pushed aside and I don't think it's fair one bit. They can't speak for themselves so why don't we do exactly that.
If we had a justice system and not a legal system, these men would get exactly what they deserve and NOT just a slap on the wrist. It isn't enough.
This man could have shot anybody in the neighborhood if what he claims is true (it was an accident). If it wasn't an accident why did Cody Wellard and the other man involved run away from the scene? Doesn't add up, does it?
The family was outside at the time on the incident. What if he had hit the father, or the child.. or anybody else for the matter?
Thats why I believe it wasn't an accident and he should be penalized for what he has done.