From The Vancouver Sun.
Not all sled dog enthusiasts cull their dogs in this fashion. Many take pride in taking good care of their animals.
No one should use this case to call for a ban on sled dog racing or ownership. Some people are very capable of caring for hundreds of dogs and providing for their needs. Numbers aren’t your problem. Actual neglect and cruelty are.
The problem is that these dog were kept for a tourism industry that collapsed after the Olympics.
The dogs were shot in full of view of other dogs, which caused the living dogs to panic.
It only came to light when a worker at the site made claim for workers’ compensation because of the post traumatic stress disorder the worker experienced as a result of the cull.
When the claim was made public on January 25, the story of the mass cull was finally revealed:
The animal cruelty investigation came to light after WorkSafeBC’s Jan. 25 decision was made public.
The full report, by review officer Allan Wotherspoon, obtained by The Vancouver Sun, stated the worker’s “employer did not protest acceptance of the claim” nor did they provide any evidence to counter the worker’s declaration “thus I accept the worker’s account of what occurred with reservation.”
Wotherspon found the “‘mass cull’ was unique in its size, not only in respect of the workers’ experience but in all of Canada.”
This massacre will probably lead to more regulation of sled dog teams.
In 2009, there was a case of 100 sled dogs that were left to starve in the Province of Quebec.
I have no problems with sled dogs or sled dog racing.
I do have problems with people doing stupid things to sled dogs, just because the bottom line says that’s the most expedient way of dealing with them.
The sled dog industry should embrace what the racing greyhound industry has adopted– a retirement program. When dogs can’t do the work or cannot be cared for properly, they get farmed out to rescue organizations that work as auxiliaries with the racing organizations.
That way, the dogs do find good homes, and such brutal cullings such as this one cannot be excused in any way.
And this one likely won’t be.
But greyhound retirement programs did not satisfy the electorate of Massachusetts – they voted to ban greyhound racing entirely. As a dog lover – and decent human being – I certainly agree that cruelty to animals is heinous behavior, but using the force of government against men to protect animals is not right either.
So what is the answer? How can we help persuade men who would otherwise treat their animals cruelly to not do so? Beyond shunning them myself, I don’t know.
I am generally leery of increased regulations on dog breeders, simply because the various problems dogs have cannot be solved through legislation. The best one can do is inform people about the problems, and hope they they make decisions when they purchase dogs or do dog related event. I have not been able to find a sound law that allows us to go after the bad guys and not hurt those who are being responsible.
The way to kill puppy mills is simple: Don’t buy dogs from online dealers or from pet stores.
But there are times when we as a society say that a practice is unacceptable. And although with dogs I tend to err on the side of less regulation, there are times when we use the state to punish those who act against society’s interests.
If I were a musher, I would be appalled at this massacre– and deeply, deeply afraid that the government is going to overreact in its response to these events.
Lynne,
I have no opinion about sled dog racing because I don’t know enough about it to have one. Of course, I was horrified and deeply saddened to read this terrible account of the suffering and deaths of those 100 sled dogs.
However, as the Vice President of GREY2K USA, a non-profit organization working to end dog racing nationwide, and the organization that put MA Question 3 on the ballot, I’m very proud of my work to end greyhound racing.
First of all, ‘Greyhound retirement programs’ do not satisfy the number of greyhounds needing to be placed every year. Despite the work of several hundred greyhound rescues in the U.S., many greyhounds are still killed. Some of those dogs have treatable injuries. Some of them have no injuries at all – they are just considered surplus inventory – their lives are in jeopardy when they cost more than they make.
Greyhound racing has existed in this country since the 1930’s, and tens of thousands of greyhounds have died for it. In 75+ years, the greyhound racing industry has yet to put into place a system for tracking greyhounds bred for racing from birth to death, and holding those breeders accountable for ensuring their dogs’ welfare after racing.
Even if they did, they will never be able to attain a 100% adoption rate, because thousands of dogs are injured and killed while racing during their ‘careers’.
Massachusetts voters (and voters in other states as well) banned greyhound racing on a number of humane issues:
– confinement to cages barely large enough to stand up or turn around, 20+ hours per day
– serious injuries and fatalities while racing – broken legs, paralysis, cardiac arrest, etc.
– neglectful care and poor diet
– dangerous transport
– dogs being raced in extreme weather conditions
– females being administered testosterone to suppress estrus
– administration of performance enhancing drugs
– exposure to illegal drugs (as proven by a number of dogs testing positive for cocaine)
Our website is http://www.GREY2KUSA.org if you’d like more information.
You can also see the conditions that racing greyhounds live in by watching this video: http://grey2kusa.org/azVideo.html
I also keep a blog to which I post news stories and information about greyhound racing in the U.S. and around the world. The address is http://jenkrebs.blogspot.com/
If you take a look at it, please be sure to read my series of posts about some of the dogs who have died on the track. http://jenkrebs.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20life%20lost%20but%20not%20forgotten
Please read about the 8 dogs who died of heat exhaustion in the back of a transport trailer in Arizona a few months ago. http://jenkrebs.blogspot.com/2011/01/josh-brodesky-on-tucson-greyhound-park.html
Please read about greyhounds who have tested positive for cocaine. http://jenkrebs.blogspot.com/search/label/cocaine
All of this suffering and death for a ‘sport’ that costs many states more than it makes, and that many dog tracks themselves want to end, because they are losing millions of dollars on it every year.
‘Using the force of government against men to protect animals’ IS right in many cases.
Dog fighting is one such example.
And greyhound racing is another.
Well, first of all, this is in CANADA–where it is highly unlikely they are going to ban sled dogs! That would be about like banning horses in the U. S. West after the exposure of certain horse abusers! Unfortunetely, anytime money and human egos involve animals, like in various “sports”, animals WILL suffer. As a sled dog trainer and runner for many years, I have been apalled again and again at incidents I have heard of involving competition sled dogs–which is a far cry from recreational and functional sled dogs–they are as different as people keeping pleasure horses, and professional horse racing–except perhaps abuses to sled dogs have been allowed far too long, and are mostly ignored. Most sled dog afficiondos would LIKE to see some more humane restrictions, I think, to keep these abusive A**holes who should never be allowed to keep a frikkin gerbil from having the noble creatures! The general public has no idea–in some competitive kennels, with over 100-plus dogs who basically spend their short lives chained next to a dogbox(when not training or racing), if the dogs do not perform well purty quick and purty naturally, they get taken out and shot–can’t afford to waste time and money on such individuals in such a large “operation”! As soon as they start slowing up or not performing up to par, they are also taken out and shot–ain’t no doggie retirements in such big kennels either! I know of one such big pro kennel–200-plus dogs chained out in a remote clearing in the woods–where the owner has NOTHING to do with care and training of the dogs–he hires others to do it for him(one of my good friends was one of his hirelings once, is why I know)–doesn’t feed, train, or even know the names of the wretched dogs! Just gets on the sled runners at race time! And doesn’t deserve the title of “musher”, certainly, with such an attitude! Then there are others for whom the dogs are their family, and they are treated better than a lot of human kids! But guys like that first example? I’d like to just take that kind out back and shoot them–they have no business running sled dogs or having ANY kind of dog! All just to see who runs faster and wins a prize! That should be the LAST thing people who get involved with sled dogs should care about…….
Er… The only places that benefit from a dog sled industry is Alaska and the Yukon. And Yukon is no stranger to abuses of sled dogs.
I would say there’s a good chance of B.C. Liberals banning sled dog racing– why? Look at the legislations they passed regarding dog onerships and exotic ownerships.
apparently there’s already a movement afoot to ban sled dog tours — which IMO is wrongheaded. The proper use of sled dog “tours” would provide a means to maintain working sled dogs. I do think a commercial operation ought to be regulated and given oversight — as horse drawn “taxis” are in several states / cities in the US.
I would rather have seen the dogs shot as in the case hitting the news currently than the other operation where they were left to starve to death. And certainly if they were going to use a gun, they ought to have managed to do it properly. Gunshot is still considered a humane method for euthanasia for many livestock and can be quick and painless. But walking down a line of dogs shooting them is something else again. The news reports I’ve read do say there were attempts to “place” the dogs. How extensive these attempts were is something else again.
I do have an issue with someone going through with shooting these dogs and then claiming PTSS. If they were really all that disturbed, I would have thought they should have called / reported what was going on AT THE TIME or even refused to do it.
I hate to mention it, but I’ve long heard of folk into USBCHA competitions shooting or dumping a BC that fails to make the “cut” and of the “lead poisoning” many dogs get during training for that “top dog”. It’s an issue of people who view dogs as nothing different than a car or other piece of equipment vice those who view them as companions, friends or something more.
Peggy Richter
Wow I have read your article and by the way I found you website
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website especially this one I have my own opinion about
what should I comment on the next hang out with my boy
friend, maybe today I will tell my friendsabout this one and
get debate.