ANIMAL NEGLECT: 44 SUFFERING CANINES EUTHANIZED

CAROLINE ALPHONSO

October 1, 2008

The dogs stood in their own waste, they were malnourished and there was no drinking water. That was the sight that confronted Behchoko, Northwest Territories, police and government officials when they visited 44 sled dogs in a fenced compound on the outskirts of town.

A veterinarian assessed the dogs and euthanized them last Friday.

Now, well-known artist Archie Beaulieu is under investigation by the RCMP in connection with the neglect of the animals, 11 of whom were puppies.

"It was a pitiful sight," Behchoko RCMP Staff Sergeant Francis Cullen said yesterday. "Why was he keeping these dogs? ... The animals were treated very, very badly for a very long period of time."

Mr. Beaulieu, a resident of Behchoko, which is about 100 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife, could not be reached yesterday. A spokeswoman at the Arrowmakers Fine Traditional Art Gallery in Yellowknife, the agency that handles his paintings, said she has been unable to reach him for a month.

Mr. Beaulieu's art primarily depicts the animals of northern Canada and the traditions of the Dene people. One of his pieces recently sold for $5,000, and his originals can be found in the collections of the Queen and the Pope, according to the gallery.

Staff Sgt. Cullen said he couldn't divulge more details on the condition of the dogs, other than to say they were in an "extreme state of neglect," until investigators decide if charges will be laid.

But even if there are charges, it would result only in a fine and a two-year ban on owning an animal because of inadequate animal-protection legislation, said Sarah Hunt, president of NWT's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"It's nowhere near where it should be. That's more like a slap on the hand for someone [causing] the loss of 44 innocent animal lives," Ms. Hunt said.

She said the SPCA could not do much to save the dogs, because, unlike elsewhere in the country, it's a volunteer-driven organization with no facilities to house the animals. The local veterinary clinic is also full.

Sled dogs are not house pets, but some could have been rehabilitated, she said. Still, given the lack of resources and shelter space, it was not going to be possible, Ms. Hunt added.

Craig Yeo, a spokesman for the community government of Behchoko, said the dogs' enclosure was run down. "No water dishes. The dogs were standing in their own waste, drinking their own waste ...," Mr. Yeo said yesterday.

He said that Mr. Beaulieu moved his racing dog team to the kennel on industrial land with permission from the community government about a decade ago. In March, a local business applied to expand its current lot by taking over the land occupied by Mr. Beaulieu's dogs. The local community government proposed an alternative site for the kennel in August, and while Mr. Beaulieu agreed to move his dogs with the expenses paid for by the government, he didn't do so, Mr. Yeo said.

Mr. Yeo believes the dogs have not been cared for since. Some of the puppies found on the site were just days old. And as it got colder and started raining last week, many of the dogs were without proper shelter, he said.

"The dogs were suffering. We hired a vet under the authority we have under our animal control bylaw," Mr. Yeo said. "We couldn't take them into care ... We don't have the resources ..."