Caged teen raises $1,700 Crammed in to raise awareness, cash for SPCA Read more: http://www.abbotsfordtimes.com/life/Caged+teen+raises/3522475/story.html#ixzz0zd0qJODT

                              
          Clayton Hodges, 15, locked himself inside a dog cage for 10 hours on Friday outside the Canadian Tire store in Abbotsford.

There he sat. Cooped up was 15-year-old Clayton Hodges, in a dog cage outside the Canadian Tire store on South Fraser Way in Abbotsford as people walked past on Friday.
He sat in the same position inside the cage for 10 hours while his mother Petra and dog Scout stood by. It was painful, it was cold and it was mentally gruelling, Hodges, an avid dog lover, told the Abbotsford-Mission Times on Saturday.
But it was worth it.
Hodges raised more than $1,700 towards his cause, bringing attention to animal cruelty. Putting himself inside a dog cage was his mechanism for getting that message out there.
"I'm doing better," he said after waking up late on Saturday morning.
"But yesterday my shoulder blades were just killing me. They felt like they had knots in them and they were all grinded up because of the cage."
The physical strain and mental anguish says Hodges, a volunteer with the SPCA in Abbotsford, is what dogs and cats stuck in cages go through for periods lasting more than just the 10 hours he did.
"I don't even know the whole impact of it, but the 10 hours sucked enough. It was quite painful and if I didn't get those 10 minutes breaks every 50 minutes, I would've been quite mad."
Many people walking in and out of the Canadian Tire store stopped to share in Hodges' experience.
Those who stopped praise the W.J. Mouat student - one lady generously donated more than $300 alone to the cause.
He was also visited by friends from school, and was very appreciative to all of those who stopped by.
"A lot of people thanked me and they came from wherever they lived just to drop off money and go back," Hodges said. "I didn't think any of my friends were going to come, but it was neat to see them. I was really grateful for that."
His mother said she's "very proud" of her son for simply wanting to help four-legged pooches who fall victim to abusive owners and unacceptable confinement.
The B.C. SPCA also held a Paws for a Cause charity walk in Abbotsford and around the province on Sunday.