An emaciated American Bulldog, the subject of a Magistrates’ Court trial yesterday, suffered from unexplained periods of weight loss and gain, defendant Otis Omar Cann-Smith who is accused of causing unnecessary suffering of the dog testified yesterday.“I did everything I could for my dog,’ he told the court, after describing how he had tried to encourage him to eat by feeding him a variety of dog foods including Pedigree and Beneful, and had purchased vitamins, shampoo and “little things from Noah’s Ark” for him.He was removed by SPCA Inspector Glyn Roberts and Welfare Officer Debra Ann Masters from Mr Cann-Smith’s home on Mullet Bay Road in St George’s on November 16, 2011 after they had received reports of an emaciated dog on the property, Ms Masters testified.Veterinary surgeon Dr Neil Burnie, giving evidence yesterday at a continuation of the trial, examined the dog at Endsmeet Animal Hospital in Devonshire, where the SPCA officers had taken him after they seized the animal.“We gave the dog the name Diego,” said Dr Burnie, who testified that on a body score scale of one to five, where one is emaciated and five is obese, he scored a one.“The assessment is made by a visual examination, and a palpable examination the laying on of hands to assess how much muscle and fat coverage there is over the bony prominences,” he said.“I could easily palpate and see the pelvic bones, rib bones, dorsal spine vertebrae and various bones of the skull were clearly visible, which led me to score the dog ‘one’ on a scale of one to five.” He said the dog weighed 58.6 pounds: “Which is considered to be markedly underweight for a dog of his size.”Dr Burnie also noted the dog had various pressure sores on his hocks, or ankles, and elbows. Other tests and examinations including one for internal parasites, which the veterinarian said may have led to his emaciated state, but ” found nothing unusually wrong with him”.Examinations at the SPCA kennels about two weeks later, where the dog has been housed since his seizure, found that he had developed some health problems. “Diego was exhibiting some mild lameness a favouring of one leg whilst in kennels, and one of his pressure sores had become infected.” An antibiotic treatment was prescribed.Dr Burnie said: “Our main focus was to see how the dog had improved in condition with nothing more than adequate nutrition. He had gained 9.4 pounds and now weighed 68 pounds, and was considered an optimal body score. This was a weight gain of 16 percent, equivalent to an adult like myself gaining 25 pounds.”Defense lawyer Victoria Pearman told the veterinarian: “Over the last two years, the defendant had observed that ‘my beloved dog’ would drop weight and within weeks would gain it back.”Dr. Burnie said: “I’m certain it may be possible certainly there are cases when male dogs are distracted by the presence of female dogs and lose condition. But I’ve never seen a dog lose condition to a score of one because of sexual activity,” he said.Mr Cann-Smith testified how he had cared for the dog, whom he had called “Bojo”.“Since I had him as a puppy I would feed him three meals a day, and as he became older I broke it down to two meals a day,” he said.“I’ve noticed that from time to time he would drop his weight and gain it back when I feed him. I’d been asking individuals with dogs about how to keep the weight on my dog, how to regulate it. I got a lot of different answers on how to take care of him.”Mr Cann-Smith said: “Sometimes we would leave his food there, come back and he hadn’t eaten it. I would just get rid of the food, clean the dish, put out fresh food and see if he would eat it. I’ve had him on Pedigree, Beneful, then I had him on a protein food.“I don’t think I was causing the dog any suffering. I was honestly trying to figure out ways to keep the dog’s weight on,” describing how he had bought the dog vitamins, shampoo and little things from Noah’s Ark. “I bought ointment for his sores and shampoo to wash him down with. Basically I did the best I could with my dog.”The case resumes before Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo on November16 in Magistrate’s Court.