I was saddened to hear that 100 dogs were killed in a 48 hour-long slaughter after a post-Olympics boon in dogsledding business never materialized. Normally, when I hear "violence" and "snow dogs", I imagine Cuba Gooding Jr. getting severely beaten as karmic payback...this was a disappointment.
The gruesome event was chronicled in documents for a worker seeking compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder, after having to shoot the dogs, and in some cases, slit their throats with a knife and chase down wounded animals that were trying to flee. Bookings dropped sharply for the adventure tour operator following the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Both the British Columbia SPCA and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating the slaughter.
The name of the man who killed the dogs has not been released, but his lawyer said that it was "the worst experience (the man) could ever have imagined." He was awarded compensation in a ruling by WorkSafe BC, the provincial body that manages workers' compensation claims. Outdoor Adventures, his employer, did not contest the man's compensation claims, but also made the standard press statement: "While we were aware of the relocation and euthanization of dogs at Howling Dog Tours, we were completely unaware of the details of the incident until reading the document."
Outdoor Adventures took over control of Howling Dogs last May, and noted it is now company policy that animals needing to be euthanized are treated at a veterinarian's office. Rich Bittner, the operator of Howling Dogs in Alberta (that a different providence - it's like a state, you ignorant Americans), said he sold his 50% interest in the Whistler operation in 2004 to a man named Bob Fawcett. He said the Whistler tour operator was supposed to change the name because Howling Dogs was no longer involved. Adding a twist to the story is an online site offering support to people suffering post-traumatic stress disorder includes several postings made under the name of Bob Fawcett, though it could not be immediately determined if these postings are from the same person.
Outdoor Adventures said they had a financial stake in Howling Dogs, but operational control of Howling Dogs was with the worker referred to in the workers comp documents. When the company could not find homes for its animals, it ordered the cull. "He was essentially told to figure out a way to make (the business) more cost-effective. They just had to have less dogs. So he did everything he could finding homes for them, having them adopted, every which way that he could," the man's attorney said. Several operators said they routinely adopt dogs from other companies, but were not asked to take any from Whistler in early 2010.
Obviously, it's hard to tell who ordered the slaughter and where the mysterious Bob Fawcett fits in - as owner, worker, both, or neither. But if there's one thing we can take away from this, it's that Cuba Gooding Jr. is a crap actor and that Snow Dogs is garbage.
The gruesome event was chronicled in documents for a worker seeking compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder, after having to shoot the dogs, and in some cases, slit their throats with a knife and chase down wounded animals that were trying to flee. Bookings dropped sharply for the adventure tour operator following the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Both the British Columbia SPCA and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating the slaughter.
The name of the man who killed the dogs has not been released, but his lawyer said that it was "the worst experience (the man) could ever have imagined." He was awarded compensation in a ruling by WorkSafe BC, the provincial body that manages workers' compensation claims. Outdoor Adventures, his employer, did not contest the man's compensation claims, but also made the standard press statement: "While we were aware of the relocation and euthanization of dogs at Howling Dog Tours, we were completely unaware of the details of the incident until reading the document."
Outdoor Adventures took over control of Howling Dogs last May, and noted it is now company policy that animals needing to be euthanized are treated at a veterinarian's office. Rich Bittner, the operator of Howling Dogs in Alberta (that a different providence - it's like a state, you ignorant Americans), said he sold his 50% interest in the Whistler operation in 2004 to a man named Bob Fawcett. He said the Whistler tour operator was supposed to change the name because Howling Dogs was no longer involved. Adding a twist to the story is an online site offering support to people suffering post-traumatic stress disorder includes several postings made under the name of Bob Fawcett, though it could not be immediately determined if these postings are from the same person.
Outdoor Adventures said they had a financial stake in Howling Dogs, but operational control of Howling Dogs was with the worker referred to in the workers comp documents. When the company could not find homes for its animals, it ordered the cull. "He was essentially told to figure out a way to make (the business) more cost-effective. They just had to have less dogs. So he did everything he could finding homes for them, having them adopted, every which way that he could," the man's attorney said. Several operators said they routinely adopt dogs from other companies, but were not asked to take any from Whistler in early 2010.
Obviously, it's hard to tell who ordered the slaughter and where the mysterious Bob Fawcett fits in - as owner, worker, both, or neither. But if there's one thing we can take away from this, it's that Cuba Gooding Jr. is a crap actor and that Snow Dogs is garbage.
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