Whistler Employee Told to Shoot 70 Sled Dogs in Post-Olympic Cull

souris · #1 ● 01-31-2011, 02:19 PM

An employee of Outdoor Adventure Whistler has received compensation for post traumatic distress disorder after he was required to shoot at least 70 healthy sledding dogs.

The huskies, weighing about 40 to 50 pounds, were used by the sledding company to take tourists into the wilderness around Whistler during the 2010 Winter Olympics but were uneconomic to keep after the Games were over and the tourists went home.

“People might be shocked, in the sense, you spend your $150 and you see 20 dogs hooked up in an idyllic setting in Whistler,” Marcie Moriarty, the general manger of cruelty investigation for the BC SPCA said Monday in an interview. “What do you do not see is the 200-plus dogs tethered back at the compound,” she said

“When the demand is not there, presumably what happened in this case, they just decided to put them down. Apparently the reason was that they needed to reduce the herd,” she said.

The company’s general manager, who has not been identified publicly, says in his claim for compensation that he went out on April 21, 2010 and April 23, 2010 with a shotgun and proceeded to kill the dogs.

“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.

“That one, to me, I had to stop reading them and pick it up later. It is just so upsetting.”

Ms. Moriarty said she believes the killings are Criminal Code offences. “I have no doubt he has PTDD but does that absolve him? No one can force you to commit a Criminal Code offence,” she said.

“As for the company, they are morally responsible, absolutely, for any connection to this.”

The dogs were buried in a mass grave that has not yet been identified, Ms. Moriarty also said.

The BC SPCA is authorized in B.C. to conduct investigations under the Criminal Code. Ms. Moriarty said the BC SPCA will conduct an investigation into the killings and make a recommendation to B.C. Crown Counsel on whether charges should be laid against the employee. The agency will also determine the location of the mass grave.

The BC SPCA does about 6,000 cruelty to animal investigation annually although the organization receives no government funding, she also said.

Ms. Moriarty added that the RCMP has indicated they are prepared to assist if necessary.

The general manager’s lawyer Corey Steinberg was not available early Monday for a comment. A WorkSafeBC spokesperson said claims for compensation are confidential and the provincial agency could not release the compensation decision that sets out the circumstances of the event.

The company has said that 100, not 70 dogs were killed.

Outdoor Adventures Whistler did not respond early Monday to repeated calls to request an interview.

However its website says the company is the largest dog-sledding operator in North America.

The company offers a three hour trip – two hours with the dogs – for $169 per person. The dogs are described as a “team of energetic and loveable Alaskan racing Huskies”.

A dog sled musher teaches the basics of driving a sled with verbal commands and sled-handling techniques.

“You’ll get a thrill like no other as you head out into the pristine Soo Valley, handling your very own team of dogs,” the website says.

Now THAT'S the most fucked up animal cruelty related story I've ever heard of. Holy shit.

slimjim77 · #2 ● 01-31-2011, 02:29 PM

That is so fucking unfair.... I have a Malamute and Mal/cross so have a real special place in my heart for these dogs. I feel sick. Wonder why the manager hasn't been publicly named eh?

slimjim77 · #3 ● 01-31-2011, 02:31 PM

The thing is they make absolutely fucking ace pets too and there are people that are crying out for them everywhere..... Waste of life

souris · #4 ● 01-31-2011, 04:32 PM

It's neat. I've never been partial to dogs but if I had HAD to have one the only kind I would choose is the kind you have. The kind that looks like a wolf/the typical kind of dog you'd see pulling a sled. Some have the most amazing eyes too. Cheers!