Sad news from Whistler, BC

 

Only a few hours ago, I received an emotional call from my mother. A news report was playing on the radio detailing the massacre of 100 sled dogs belonging to a Whistler company, Howling Dog Adventure Tours. The animals were culled due to an economic downturn after the Olympics, and evidence of the killings was only brought to light after the man who performed the shootings filed for worker's compensation due to post-traumatic stress. There is outrage in the media, in the news. The SPCA is everywhere, and people are calling for an blanket ban of sled dog tours. My landlady is of the belief that these killings should be treated just as human murders are.

My initial reaction was one of shock and horror at what these dogs went through, and I still feel that way. But this is also mixed with a healthy dose of worry for those companies in the Whistler area who treat their dogs well and will be slammed by bad press and media. I have friends who worked for the now-defunct Whistler Dogsledding Company and have since moved on to guide with other businesses operating out of the area. 5 of my own dogs are now running for Revelstoke Dogsled Adventures, and I could not be happier with where they are living.

Stories like this crop up periodically in many animal-related aspects, and they are extremely charged events, both politically and socially. Simply put, they inspire great emotion. I don't want to get into an argument about animal rights; conversations like that generally turn into a lose-lose situation. I do urge you, however, to take the larger issue surrounding this story with a grain of salt. The core events were shocking and are heavily condoned by the mushing community. Does that mean that all tour businesses treat their animals this way and should be shut down immediately? Of course not.

The dog at the top of the page is Lily, who was my lead dog for about 3 years. She is now spending her retirement in Revelstoke with Oreo, Chevy, Emily, and Chaos. Lily had an identical sister named Blossom, whom I loved very much. When Blossom was 5, she developed a severe case of gastric dilatation. Her stomach swelled up like a balloon, and we rushed her to the nearest on-call vet in Prince George, over two hours away. After two days of treatment, and many barium x-ray slides later, there had been no improvement and I made the decision to euthanize. There was not a dry eye in the place, and I had nightmares for weeks afterwards. Plenty of mushers would have afforded the exact same care to their animal in a similar circumstance.

Beneath everything, all of the media hype and heartbreak and debate, there are two central truths to this sport. First off, mushers care about their dogs. Otherwise they would not do it. No one-and I repeat-no one, gets rich off running dogs. And secondly, the dogs love to run. They live for it, I can promise you.

I miss them everyday.