Do we know the dogs were in their kennels when they were found? Per the VI's posts here, he stated he wasn't sure where the dogs were exactly located, other than inside the house, since he didn't enter the house. (And I don't believe police have enlightened us on that?) (see:
CANADA - Canada - Audrey Gleave, 73, Ancaster ON, 30 Dec 2010 #2)
In any event, he did also say that a couple of days later when he *did* enter the house, *before* cleaning started, that it didn't seem as if the dogs had been left unattended for an extended length of time (see same post as above). But that information is meaningless if we don't know whether the dogs were just loose inside the house, or if they were locked inside their kennel(s) inside the house, and the crates were already gone with police.
Police would presumably (and hopefully!) have taken the kennel(s) for examination, if they had indeed been inside their kennels when found?
After saying all of that, did the dogs even *have* kennels for sure? Our VI doesn't seem to have mentioned them in his posts (that I can see)? There is mention in a newspaper article though, when it seems our VI mentioned only 1 crate for both of the dogs? (That must have been one huge crate to comfortably fit 2 dogs of that size?):
"As close a friend as Phil was, of all the times he was in the house, she never served him coffee or watched TV with him. They would always chat on the same couch, just outside the kitchen. She would either shut Togi and Schatze in a large kennel crate she kept in the house, or urge them to be nice to Phil."
Opinion | Audrey’s story continues
Then in this article, it suggests 'two' 'cages', however we can't really tell if that is speculation/assumption on the author's part, or if indeed there were actually two crates.
"When she was killed, likely in her garage, Togi, a big eight-year old male shepherd, and Schatze, a lean, four-year old female, had been unable to help.
They were in the house, perhaps locked in their familiar cages.
....
At bedtime, Schatze goes easily into her cage in the living room, along with Lorne and Sylvia’s two previous dogs. But it’s different with Togi — there is something about the cage.
Togi was fiercely loyal to Audrey. If the big male was in his cage when she was killed, did he hear it? Is it possible that he saw something, but was trapped by the bars?
It makes no sense, eight years into his life, that Togi is now uneasy with his cage. He is calm outside it, “well balanced” as Lorne puts it. But inside the cage, at night, he seems agitated, stressed.
Does the cage symbolize something awful for him? From Lorne’s experience rehabilitating dogs, he thinks that is possible.
If Audrey Gleave’s dogs could speak …
Their new owner is quoted above saying the male dog doesn't like being penned in his crate at night, but isn't it just as possible that it could also be because he was not used to being penned at night?
Unfortunately, without knowing if the dogs had been penned in their kennels (which kennels would have presumably been absent and gone for examination by the time our VI went inside the home?), that leaves us with no knowledge of whether or not the amount of poop held clues to how long they'd been unattended. I'm hoping that police
do know this, however!
If the dogs had NOT been crated inside the house when AG was being murdered, the house would have most assuredly suffered huge damage from the dogs trying to get out to protect their beloved master. I don't recall hearing any mention of any particular damage though? They would have been going absolutely nuts in a vicious way, knowing something was happening to their owner in the garage and yet not being able to get out there. And especially with 'two' dogs together.
I wonder if LE examined the dogs' stomach contents? They tested the dogs' hair and blood, (also noted in article above), but not sure about their stomach contents? Hopefully they sent the dogs in to duly qualified dog veterinarian experts to determine how long it had been since they had last eaten or consumed fluids, and/or whether they were anywhere close to dying due to dehydration/starvation, or which stage they were at exactly, in that inevitable process.
Interesting, the things that can become important pieces of evidence in a case.
In less than 2 weeks, it will have been EIGHT years, and still no sign of this crime being anywhere close to being solved. Have there been any crimes in the general area which are even remotely similar to this one during those 8 years? Or is this a one-off, by perhaps someone known to her who just snapped under the pressure of a whole lotta pent up rage towards her?
