Very disturbing story via Huffington Post and CBC, on the slaughter of 100 sled dogs. A company called Outdoor Adventures Whistler, felt that they had an excess amount of dogs exceeding their business activity. The owners left it to an employee to figure out what to do with the 100 dogs, and apparently few - if any - were adopted out.
The disturbing part however, is that the employee chose to shoot the dogs in the head, then slit their throats and buried them in a mass grave. At least some of the dogs required multiple gun shots, one tried to climb out of the grave while dying, another ran around trying to escape while its eye was dangling.
Amazingly, the company had no euthanasia policy, nor did it have a neutering program, until after the bad press. Sixty years ago, Old Yeller being shot in the head seemed compassionate for a family on the farm with a rabid dog, but WTF is wrong with people in this millennium, who think it's okay to shoot nearly 100 dogs in the head, in the middle of Whistler?
Now, it's not entirely Outdoor Adventures Whistler's fault; Robert Fawcett bought out Howling Dog Tours Ltd., from Howling Dog Tours Whistler, Inc., in 2004. He in turn, sold the company to Outdoor Adventures Whistler, but he's the one who carried out the killings, as an employee of Outdoor Adventures. And it was Robert Fawcett who had filed for Canada's version of worker's comp for PTSD - if you can believe it - for carrying out the killings of those dogs. If you're claiming PTSD and it's because of actions you had total control over, why would you lift a finger to pull the trigger to begin with?
Worse, according to this blog - which I suggest you read - Robert Fawcett, "was listed as a vice-president of the Kenai, Alaska-based organization Providing Responsible Information on a Dog’s Environment."
Ironically, PRIDE's website states one if its intents: "Help to educate the general public as well as new mushers, veterinarians, and other people with dog care interests on the proper care of sled dogs and responsible kennel husbandry."
It makes one wonder, is this an isolated problem, or an industry problem?
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