Tragic Murder of 100 Sled Dogs in Canada
(Whistler, B.C. Canada) It was recently discovered that a Whistler tour company killed 100 healthy sled dogs last April in an execution-style manner due to economic restraints and the inability to find new homes for the dogs. The SPCA in British Columbia is currently investigating.
The Howling Dog Tours business, which owned the sled dogs, was taken over by Outdoor Adventures Whistler company in May 2010, after the executions took place. The company as a whole had been experiencing a drop-off in business since the end of the 2010 Winter Olympic games and was no longer able to care for the 350 dogs kept on the premises. In order to ease the financial burden, the owner of the company ordered for the killing of 100 dogs. The case was only brought to the attention of officials when a former employee of the company reported a claim of post-traumatic stress to the Worker's Compensation Board of B.C. following the murders.
Some recent investigations have indicated that the Outdoor Adventures Whistler tour company initially reached out to the BC SPCA on two occasions in order to find homes for the dogs, but was denied assistance.
senior animal protection officer Eileen Drever told The Vancouver Sun that “[The employee] didn’t advise me he was going to kill any dogs. He was looking to find homes. I spoke to an animal behaviourist who is also a vet and she spoke with an expert in the [United] States who said [the sled dogs] weren’t adoptable,” said Drever.
According to reports, the company then decided that its only option was to kill off 100 dogs in a vicious, execution-style massacre.
The case is still under investigation. But following mass public outrage of the incident, The Vancouver Humane Society has called for a ban on sled dog tours.
"The details of how these dogs were killed are absolutely shocking," VHS spokesperson Peter Fricker told CTV News. "This is what happens when animals are exploited for profit and become surplus to requirements when business is bad."
The incident has saddened and angered people around the world and continues to make headlines as the dog-loving community in Vancouver tries to heal and understand how and why such a tragedy occurred.
