100 healthy sled dogs killed due to slow business

jenv101

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#1
100 healthy sled dogs killed due to slow business

WHISTLER, B.C. - An official of the SPCA in British Columbia says word of a slaughter of sled dogs in Whistler warrants a criminal investigation.

Marcie Moriarty, general manager of the group's cruelty investigations, says the description of the April 2010 incident is an "absolutely criminal code offence," although there is no indication a police investigation is underway.

Documents obtained by CKNW radio reveal about 100 healthy sled dogs were killed in a mass slaughter in Whistler last April 21 and 23.

According to the WorkSafe B.C. documents, an employee of Outdoor Adventures Whistler has been compensated for post-traumatic stress disorder after being ordered to shoot the animals.

The documents reveal bookings for dog sled tours collapsed after the Olympics and when the company could not find homes for its animals, it ordered the cull.

Outdoor Adventures Whistler did not contest the details in the WorkSafe documents except to indicate that the injured worker claimed to have killed 70 dogs, but 100 were actually destroyed. (CKNW)
 

Dekka

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#2
That is sad, that so many dogs had to die cause people were stupid.. But really if they couldnt' find homes for them... what were they supposed to do with them?
 

AllieMackie

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#4
Have them humanely put down, not shot in the face?
^ THAT is what upsets me the most.

My sister-in-law sent me this link on FB today (they live just outside of Whistler). Apparently this company's pretty ass to begin with, in terms of brashness, mistreating employees, etc. and this just... barf.

They should have foreseen tourism dropping radically post-Olympics, as all the other companies in Whistler did. They should have known they wouldn't have a need for all of these dogs afterwards.

Just disgusting.

ETA: A quote from the article on my FB:

“What is extremely upsetting is to read what he described - some of them requiring mulitple shots, his having to slit their throats, dogs faces being blown off and they were still running around, dogs that he thought had been dead, that he put in what he described as a mass grave and he looks back and sees her trying to climb out,†Ms. Moriarty said.
Whistler employee told to shoot 70 sled dogs in post-Olympic cull - The Globe and Mail
 

SailenAero

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#5
Sickening. They could have contacted sledders in other countries or even Alaska where the dogs could be used. Makes me sick and angry.
 

~Tucker&Me~

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#6
Wow this is so close to me... How disgusting.

I want to do something about it but have no idea what :S
 

Dekka

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#7
Being shot, (assuming the person knows how) is every bit as humane, perhaps more so depending on the animal, than an injection.

Since it seems the person was incompetent, then yes that is horrible. Just as those methods are just as horrible for cows, horses and pigs. It would be interesting to see if they would have had the money to pay for 100 euths.
 

Zoom

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#8
Being shot, (assuming the person knows how) is every bit as humane, perhaps more so depending on the animal, than an injection.

Since it seems the person was incompetent, then yes that is horrible. Just as those methods are just as horrible for cows, horses and pigs. It would be interesting to see if they would have had the money to pay for 100 euths.
That's the catch right there. Obviously this person had no idea how to properly do it and thus the animals suffered tremendously.

I have no problem using a bullet as a euth method, AS LONG AS the person pulling the trigger knows where to aim.
 

Xandra

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Yeah I was gonna post this.

I agree with Dekka and said the same to my dad... it shouldn't be illegal to kill your own animals so long as you do it humanely; shooting is humane and 100 dogs eat a lot, and these were probably working dogs that had never lived in a home, been lived with kids, etc. In other words not easy to find homes for. So as much as I think the tour operators are either jerkoffs (for knowing they would have to euth the dogs post-Olympics) or idiots (for not realizing they were going to have a massive problem when things went back to normal), I don't think killing the dogs was criminal.

Obviously not ensuring that they died instantly was.

Keep in mind, though, that this report is from the employee who did the shooting and told WORKERS COMP because he has PTSD. If he's trying to milk the board for PTSD it would make sense to say that the dogs suffered horribly instead of "yeah, they didn't even know what hit them." It's weird that if he was so disturbed he didn't report it or bail out of the ordeal while it was going on. I guess we'll see when/if they exhume the bodies.
 

Romy

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#10
As far as I know, workers comp just pays your medical bills don't they? If he's only getting money for treatment why would he lie about it?

People do all kinds of crazy awful stuff when told to by the big boss. There's a weird kind of psychology behind itMilgram experiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

IMO, it was the company's responsibility to ensure those dogs were put down in a humane manner if they couldn't place them. That means finding someone qualified, and the employee they singled out was definitely not. If they couldn't find someone who knew what they were doing, then they should have taken every dog in or hauled out a mobile vet paid to do them. It's a cost of doing business. It's bad enough 100 dogs had to pay with their lives because of some idiot's lack of planning. You make stupid business decisions, it costs money to fix them.

I'd be surprised if they didn't violate some law concerning the disposal of animal remains too, burying that many in one place.
 

Xandra

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#11
Workers comp is designed to:
* pay workers for some of their lost income and certain expenses if they suffer a workplace injury or disease – regardless of who was at fault – or to pay a worker’s family if the worker dies from the injury or disease.

* help injured workers get back to work.

* make and enforce safety rules and promote safety in the workplace.
(often they will pay for specialist treatment as well)

So I think if he's going to say that he has PTSD and can't work or whatever he's going to have to prove he has it, and I think it would be more believable if he said that he saw horrifically injured dogs than quick humane deaths.

I don't know very much about our Workers Compensation, but they will try and find out if you're fibbing (have been on disability for longer than you should have) so it would make sense to me that someone who was trying to get it would exaggerate the extent of their damages. I doubt that that's the case but I hope it is...
 

Dani

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#12
My family and I were just discussing that whoever was behind this is a marked man. And I have absolutely no pity for the sick f#ck.
 

Lilavati

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#13
I generally support the right to kill your own dog humanely, and that includes shooting your own dog. However, putting one incompetent idiot in charge of shooting 100 dogs, where the dogs are shot in front of each other (these are social animals), is pretty clearly animal cruelty, especially once it should have been obvious the guy couldn't shoot straight.

I also don't believe for a second that they made any real effort to place these dogs, either with other dog teams, or with rescues, or with homes. The sheer callousness of the slaughter pretty much indicates they didn't give a crap. As for paying for 100 euths . . . here's an idea . . . you can't take care of them anymore . . . then turn them over to the state. Yeah, its irresponsible (but so is shooting them), but the animals will either be placed or humanely put down. Problem solved.

Moreover, although I believe that you have a right to kill your own dog, anyone who kills 100 trained, intelligent, social (and as a practical matter, inedible) animals because demand is down and they can't afford them any more is a complete and total turd. And any employee who complies with that order deserves PTSD and a nice warm place in hell.
 

Dekka

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#14
Here (not sure if its the same in other provinces) its often just as cheap to turn a dog over to the local Animal control/shelter as it is to put them down. (there is no way you could claim all 100 were strays)
 

Kayla

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#15
I felt sick to my stomach when I read that article...

IF the claims about how the dogs were killed are true, then how horrible for those poor dogs, especially the ones that were allegedly found still alive.. I don't care if it's a cow, a pig, or a dog they are living creatures and when culling, euthanisia, killing practices are not quick and fail to minimize the amount of suffering to meet our cultures standards of "humane" then in my 0.02 it should be a crime.

On the other hand an article I read said the Vancover Humane Society is pushing to ban the dog sled indurstry completely which I think would be unfortunate as I imagine there are some very passionate, small scale operations out there that would be worth supporting that would get caught in the cross fire.

Personally though I don't think it's ethical to be allowed to keep more dogs than you can support in your off season. It would be nice if instead of trying to ban an entire industry that stronger legislation could be written to support good practices, and help prevent similar events from happening in the future.
 

JennSLK

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#16
Kayla - I am friends with someone who was involved with sledding the the NWT. She is no longer actualy mushing. They are trying to pass legislation about the treamtment of the dogs, but our Gov is to stupid to do it properly. They are trying to say if treating a animal in a certain way is a tradition, then its OK to keep doing that. Way to big of a loop hole, since many inuits are not traditionaly nice to thier "live stock"
 
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#17
Im pretty sure Im going to catch h#ll for this.

I dont care that the dogs where culled. I care about how the dogs where culled.
 

Lilavati

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#18
Im pretty sure Im going to catch h#ll for this.

I dont care that the dogs where culled. I care about how the dogs where culled.
Nope. I think a lot of people here care MORE about the way it was done than that it was done at all. It doesn't mean I don't care that it was done at all . . . I think it was irresponsible and disrespectful of life . . . but its the way it was done that really makes me furious.
 

Dekka

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#20
That is very sad. Even if they didn't say they were going to start shooting them... I am sure the shelter had a darn good idea of what would happen to the dogs.
 

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