This is news from a couple weeks ago. Nonetheless, worth writing about and bringing to more people. Also, there is a petition going around on this and if you haven’t signed it yet, I imagine you would like to. And one more important way to help ensure this kind of thing doesn’t happen (or happens less) is by donating to your local SPCA, as the new “One Dollar for One Dog Challenge” Facebook page advocates.
Basically, the story is, British Columbia saw a slump in tourism at Outdoor Adventures Whistler following the 2010 Winter Olympics, so an employee there was ordered to kill 100 sled dogs that were no longer needed by the company.
“The dogs were repeatedly shot and had their throats slashed before being dumped into a mass grave,” Huffington Post reports. “The employee describes one dog whose ‘eye was hanging off, and it was still running around.’ Another dog was dumped into the grave while still alive, and the Outdoor Adventures Whistler employee watched as the dog tried to climb out.”
What’s Going On with the Case Now
It is unclear if this is going to result in a criminal case. It is legal to shoot an animal if it dies instantly,.. but that seems to not be the case here. BC SPCA is reportedly going to dig up the mass graves to see if they can find clear evidence of this. (Note, however, that this was the news two weeks ago and I can’t find an update on this.)
The employee has been granted compensation for post-traumatic stress from murdering the animals over the course of two days, however, the question that comes to my mind is: who would murder 100 dogs if given that task at work?
The man has reportedly suffered from “panic attacks, nightmares, sleep disturbances, anger, irritability and depressed mood since culling approximately 100 dogs” and was a “dog-lover.”
Why Were the Dogs Killed? What Was the BC SPCA’s Involvement?
This employee and Outdoor Adventures Whistler have submitted a public statement that the dogs were “too old” or “sick” and “not adoptable” and so had to be killed. Of course….
The man who killed the dogs said that he had asked for help finding people to adopt the company’s dogs from the BC SPCA on a couple of occasions and was “rebuffed” but “Marcie Moriarty, head of the BC SPCA’s animal-cruelty division, says she’s ‘livid’ over the suggestion the BC SPCA turned the dogs away,” the Montreal Gazette reports.
Apparently, some workers there recalled talking to the man and telling him that the dogs wouldn’t make good pets and weren’t adoptable but had no idea he was going to slaughter them in the way done.
BC SPCA clearly states on its website that it “was not approached to help rehome any of these animals…. there was no request for assistance in rehoming animals and details of the April 21st and 23rd slaughter were not disclosed to the SPCA.”
How Often Does This Kind of Thing Happen?
I don’t have statistics, but this surely happens all too often to circus animals, retired racehorses, retired racing dogs, and plenty of other animals used for human entertainment.
Also, if you want to step outside your comfort zone a little bit, this happens to a staggering number of chickens, pigs, cows, and other animals everyday. If you aren’t aware, pigs are about as intelligent as dogs.
Think the slaughter of 100 sled dogs is horrible? You should probably consider vegetarianism…
Photo Credit: Tambako the Jaguar
What this man did was appalling but from I’ve read the bcspca told him on 2 occasions that the dogs were not adobtable, he contacted at least 5 vets in bc, all of them refused the euthenize healthy dogs, & the spca said if he had told them what he was planning they would have taken the dogs & euthenized them(humanely). this man operated a dog sled facility that he used to own but was bought by WHISTLER OUTDOOR ADVENTURES, who told him to get rid of the dogs anyway possible & cut his funding & it came down to feed the dogs or your family. What he should have done is gone to the media & exposed what WHISTLER OUTDOOR ADVENTURES & its parent company INTRAWEST was doing, this could have also found homes for the dogs. If you are disgusted with this whole story as I am I ask you to boycot INTRAWEST, this includes WHISTLER BLACKCOMB, BLUE MOUNTAIN, STEAMBOAT, SNOWSHOE, STRATTEN, & TREMBLANT RESORTS.
Thanks for the extra info, joel. good tips & useful call to action
Disgusting and disgraceful. They should be prosecuted and shutdown. Boycott them and send them broke.
Since killing dogs in Alaska is perfectly legal, it’s the inhumane methods used to execute them that appalls most. The FDA has standards in place that prevent just this sort of thing for farm animals. This company couldn’t be bothered with giving their ‘product’ basic respect.
Thanks. This broke my heart when I read it, poor lil things. They are such pretty dogs. Some people are heartless. 🙁
Yeah, really sad story
There are huge problems with the sled dog industry and the execution of 100 sled dogs is just one example. In 2007, Canadian musher and Yukon Quest winner Frank Turner told the CBC that the race should admit that culling is part of competitive mushing and act to discourage it. Competitive mushers breed more dogs than they can afford and are not able to sell the dogs or give them away.
Many Alaskan Iditarod mushers say that killing unwanted sled dogs is just part of doing business. Dogs who are unwanted for any reason are shot, drowned, beaten or dragged to death. They aren’t even given the kind of compassionate death guaranteed to most convicted murderers– painless lethal injection.
FOR MORE FACTS: http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks-abuseinkennels.htm
OMG! How in the world do they get by with this? I never thought I would ever say this about a peron, but I think a few Mushers need a rope and a rock tied around their necks.
How can someone help stop this? I’m a sucker for animals. If I see a turtle on the road I make my hubby stop and move it. LOL. If there is anyway we can help them let me know. 🙁