Tortured Windsor, Ont. dog becomes icon in fight against animal cruelty
Stuffed toys of Justice, complete with his characteristic scar, raised money for animal cruelty investigations
The tortured dog that was bound in electrical tape and abandoned in Windsor, Ont. has become an icon in the fight against animal cruelty.
Justice the dog grabbed the country's attention in 2015, just weeks before Christmas, when a man tightly tied the animal's snout, neck and paws in black tape and discarded him in the grass near a Canadian Tire store.
- Plush replicas of Justice fund animal cruelty investigations
- Dog's neck, snout, paws bound with electrical tape in Windsor, Ont.
The dog's story was resurrected this holiday season when the Windsor/Essex County Humane Society created plush stuffed toys of the animal in order to raise money for animal cruelty investigations.
The toys, complete with white bands on their snouts that represent Justice's characteristic scar, sold out in a little more than a week — thanks in part to a spot on ABC's Good Morning America.
"We expected the toys would likely sell out by Christmas, but we definitely didn't expect them to go this fast," said Melanie Coulter, executive director at the humane society that created the stuffed toys.
About $6,000 was raised from the sales of 300 dolls. About 75 of those were sent to the U.S. after the feature spot on ABC.
The humane society also took calls from people in places like Australia and France, asking if they could buy the toy. Given the popularity, Coulter said she wishes she ordered more.
"We clearly could have sold more, but we didn't want to order too many and risk not being able to sell them," she said.
Thanks to Canadian shelter, a dog once left for dead now has a twin in the form of a stuffed version of himself. <a href="https://t.co/d7nZky9IAd">https://t.co/d7nZky9IAd</a> <a href="https://t.co/Cr1Rorzome">pic.twitter.com/Cr1Rorzome</a>
—@GMAJustice has come a long way since being bound and abandoned in Windsor's east end.
The Amherstburg, Ont. man who bound the dog in electrical tape, was sentenced to two years in jail after pleading guilty to animal cruelty charges in February.
Animal rights activists packed the courtroom that day. Many of them followed the trial, often holding rallies in the streets.
After Hill was sentenced, one man swore at him as he walked out of the prisoner's box. That kind of emotion has followed Justice throughout his recovery.
Surviving for another Christmas
Justice is spending his first holiday season with his new family over the next few weeks. He was adopted this summer after a lengthy recovery and has settled in nicely, Coulter said.
Hundreds of people asked to adopt the dog as it made headlines across the country. The humane society eventually narrowed the list down to about 20 families.
Justice found a new home in July after spending several weeks with the family to see if they were a good fit.