Animal Advocates Watchdog

The little lapdog named Honey who was euthanized by HSY

The Yukon News avoided publishing any letters speaking up for Humane Society Yukon dog Hunter, who was euthanized following a decision by a majority of HSY board members. The Yukon News and CBC Yukon highjacked this story which only came to public knowledge because another Whitehorse paper, the Whitehorse Star, printed EVERY opinion. Welcome to the world of "yellow journalism," Yukon News!

Unpublished letter to editor re: “What would Mae Bachur do?” (Yukon News, Sept. 22, 2010)

If anybody has ‘lost their way’ when it comes to caring for unfortunate domestic animals, I think that the ‘Yukon stalwart’ (as I have seen her described before in previous newspaper articles), Andrea Lemphers, should take a good look in the mirror. She brings shame upon her long-exalted reputation by dredging up at length, Mae Bachur’s name to justify her ease with playing God over the lives of animals she very likely has never met or spent any time with. Lemphers surely deserves the thanks of the Yukon public for her pioneering work in rescuing animals before the shelter was built, but since then she has been pretty silent as an advocate and unlike most stalwarts, she has chosen her avenues of advocacy carefully, paying strict heed to Yukon political correctness.

Lemphers had a few years ago, thanked me when I met her on the street one day in Whitehorse, for my advocacy for dogs used as sled dogs, yet I am not aware of her having spoken up herself. I know that she never ever wrote letters supporting my cause. This advocacy for sled dogs is something she and the humane society should have been doing for years, not me.

In the article, Lemphers makes the callous remark “if people strongly believe they [‘problem dogs’ or dogs with health concerns] should not be put down, they have every right to adopt that animal into their own home.” Well it is not exactly that easy, Ms.Lemphers.

As you were HSY ‘director at large’ for a number of years (I have no idea if you still have this position of power and influence at HSY), you may have been aware of the case of the little lapdog named Honey who was euthanized by HSY in September 2001. Against the wishes of some shelter staff, she was adopted into an unsuitable home (was not suited for home with young children), had allegedly nipped a child and was returned to the shelter. At the time, I and others thought she had been beaten or otherwise abused before being returned to the isolation kennel at the shelter. There were people who wanted to adopt her to save her life, but the board and president were unyielding in their death sentence. There was similar dissention over the fate of the dog Hunter.

And please give the “public safety issues” garbage a break. There are often people who are willing to take on the liability, along with the dog - there are people in Whitehorse who comply with ‘dangerous dog’ restrictions. For that matter, why did City bylaw spend $25,000 (or more) of public money to kill Trevor, when there are many other cases of dogs biting people and Bylaw has not imposed death sentences on those dogs? Two examples of this have been presented to the judge and are now on public record. [More background info at http://www.animaladvocates.com/cgibin/watchdog.pl?page=1;md=read;id=13179 ]

Speaking of wasting public money, do you have any comment on how much money and volunteer hours were wasted by HSY in destroying the woods behind the shelter about 5 years ago in order to build what concerned staff and HSY members understood at the time to be a convenient dumping ground for dog mushers? Were you aware of, or did you have any part of, the HSY board approaching the Yukon Quest about 5 years ago wishing to bestow an annual "humane award" on one of these gifted animal exploiters? This was told to me by an ex-HSY shelter administrator, a recreational dog musher who also rescued sled dogs at his rural property in Whitehorse. I was also informed that the Quest politely declined the offer, the response being that "the Quest is only held two weeks" out of every year and that the organization "could not vouch for how the dogs are treated the rest of the year."

Instead of echoing the same words as that of the rabble on the CBC North website who would have happily put a bullet into the back of Hunter’s or Trevor’s heads, I would have much preferred to hear you telling Yukon Quest dog mushers to drop their unwanted dogs off at the homes of the Yukon Party politicians who support that Yukon embarrassment, about which you have been silent. I would have liked to hear you tell the Yukon First Nations who sponsor the Quest to spend money on improving the situations of their own dogs instead of adding to more exploitation (that goes double for Indian Affairs ministler Chuck Strahl who recently pledged $262,000 to the Quest for marketing purposes - he should be spending money on improving the conditions for dogs on reserves across Canada, including the Yukon). I would have liked to hear you publicly tear a strip off the leadership of Kwanlin Dun First Nation (a new Yukon Quest sponsor in 2010) which is a major contributor to why the shelter is "always overflowing."

I hope the new HSY board will take a more radical approach in regard to real and effective advocacy and that they will cast aside and retire the ‘Old Yukon Attitude’ approach which has obviously not been working, as the state for animals in the Yukon is apparently as bad as it’s ever been.

Terry Cumming
SledDogWatchdog.com
Melfort , SK

Messages In This Thread

Humane Society Yukon founder supports the killing of shelter dog Hunter and wants Trevor dead too..."no ifs ands or buts" *LINK*
Yukon News editorial 'Time to kill the [no kill] policy'
Do they do this with parolled sex offenders?
Whitehorse lawyers say Trevor is not a "dangerous dog" yet he has been kept in a prison cell for more than a year
Re: Whitehorse lawyers say Trevor is not a "dangerous dog" yet he has been kept in a prison cell for more than a year
I was elated to see the editorial Time To Kill The Policy
Tell the animal you're killing that you're doing it a favour
A firsthand experience of gassing cats
Gassing cats by a former SPCA employee
Former Nanaimo SPCA manager describes gassing
CBC Radio interview: 'Founder of Yukon Humane Society not pleased with animal rights activists' *LINK*
CBC failed to present balanced coverage (Whitehorse Star, Oct 29). *LINK*
CBC changed the web page address! *LINK*
Twisted egos began affecting animal care (Star, Sept 24)
The little lapdog named Honey who was euthanized by HSY
Whitehorse Star shows its true colours...
Dawson City letter writer: "Trevor the dog should have been taken out and shot"
Trevor the Whitehorse death row dog wins reprieve *LINK*
Re: Dawson City letter writer: "Trevor the dog should have been taken out and shot"

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