A Clearwater man who had 13 dogs seized by the B.C. SPCA says he's very remorseful but strongly denies that he left the dogs outside with no food, water or shelter. Kurtis Elliot told iNFOnews.ca that since the SPCA released the information about his situation he's had death threats.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Kurtis Elliot

A Clearwater man who had 13 dogs seized by the B.C. SPCA says he's very remorseful but strongly denies that he left the dogs outside with no food, water or shelter.

Kurtis Elliot told iNFOnews.ca today, Jan. 12, that since the SPCA released the information about his situation yesterday he's had death threats.

Elliot said he feeds the dogs twice a day and admits it clearly wasn't enough.

"I'm remorseful, I love my dogs it's sad to get to this point," he said. "I was trying to work with everything that was on my plate and it was too much."

The B.C. SPCA seized 13 dogs from Elliot's property. Photos show some of the dogs incredibly emaciated and the SPCA calls the scene "horrific."

Elliot isn't defensive about the condition of some of the dogs and doesn't deny that several were worryingly thin.

"The pictures do say a lot, but they don’t say the truth about everything... at no point did I neglect (or) starve them to death, they were being fed, (but) not enough for what they needed," Elliot said.

READ MORE: iN VIDEO: BC SPCA seizes 15 starving dogs from Clearwater breeder

'Blue' the most emaciated of the dogs

Image Credit: B.C. SPCA

In a media release the SPCA said the dogs were kept outside all day in sub-zero temperatures, with no shelter from the elements, and no food and their water bowls were frozen over.

However, Elliot denies this and said the dogs go outside for a few hours a day and had access to food, water and a dry area covered in hay. He said the dogs always stay in the house overnight and wouldn't go outside during freezing temperatures.

Elliot said on Jan. 10 a B.C. SPCA officer visited his property and he surrendered two dogs. He says he planned to surrender two more dogs the next day but instead the SPCA turned up with a warrant to seize all 13 dogs.

The SPCA seized three adult dogs, three dogs that were eight months old, and seven 10-week-old puppies.

The three eight-month-old dogs are the thinnest of the bunch.

He said they get two cups of kibble a day.

Elliot admitted this wasn't enough and in the last six weeks, the dogs began losing a lot of weight. He said he was trying to treat them for parasites.

"I know I should have (taken them to a vet) before it got to this point," Elliot said.

He said he didn't take them to a vet because there isn't one in Clearwater. He then said he had difficulty leaving the house.

So why did he let it get to this point?

"Too much, too many dogs, too many things going on, everything piled up," he said.

Elliot said he started breeding the Presa Canario – not Cane Corso as the SPCA said – three years ago.

Puppies did sell for $1,000 but now he said they're $200 and he even has difficulty giving them away.

Somewhere along the line he ended up with too many dogs and says he asked for help from the community but didn't get much support.

"I was trying to work with everything that was on my plate and it was too much," he said. "I was stuck with all of these dogs trying to do my best, I have proof that I was feeding them but not enough."

The SPCA said the puppies were kept indoors in a wire crate but didn't have access to food and some of them had wood splinters in their stool.

Elliot denies this and says he has an entire room for the puppies.

However, photos he posted to Facebook last summer clearly show several dogs in a wire crate in the house.

So why did he let it get this bad?

"I honestly can say I don’t have an answer for that. I don't know why it got to this point and I'm very remorseful for it getting to this point for those dogs," he said.

According to the SPCA, animal cruelty charges are being recommended to Crown counsel.

Elliot said he's appealing to get the dogs back.

Kurtis Elliot posted this photo to Facebook in August 2022.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK:Kurtis Elliot

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