"Pat Tohill of the Canadian branch of the World Society for the Protection of Animals said shooting stray dogs is common in many Canadian small towns. Some northern communities have "dog-shooting days," when people fan out and gun down strays."

What Ms Tohill may not know is that this is a common method of dog control on Native reserves in Canada, certainly in BC. Telling the truth is stifled in Canada, but not telling the truth means that nothing will change.

What is the BC SPCA doing to control dog populations on reserves in BC? Does it have an effective spay/neuter program? We don't believe it does. We know that cruelty to animals, especially to dogs, is rampant on Native reserves, but to even mention this out loud is to risk being vilified as racist.

Rescuers are taking dogs off chains from reserves daily. Others take the dogs that have been shot and left to die of injuries, or partially drowned, or hanged but not dead, or run over and left crippled to fend for themselves. Crystal Kerr is one of these amazing women, and you can read just a few of her stories of the brutality to animals on BC reserves. You can read about Crystal's work here http://www.animaladvocates.com/crystal-kerr.htm. Read the links to Tofino Tied Pup, Port Albion Dog, Angelo, Billy, Bobby.

There are a lot of people that know of the cruelty to animals on reserves, some even know about the dog-fighting that takes place on some reserves. It's about time these people told the truth.

AAS has sent this post to Daphna Nachminovitch of PETA.

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Arctic Bay dangerous place to stray

Tiny Nunavut village pays 'dog officers' $20 a tail in bid to control pet population

By PAUL WALDIE
Saturday, October 11, 2003 - Page A7

The tiny village of Arctic Bay in Nunavut is not messing around with stray dogs. Last month, the hamlet's 750 residents were told to tie up their dogs within 24 hours or the pets would be shot.

The shooting has been under way since then, and three appointed "dog officers" have bagged 20 animals. The officers earn $20 for each tail they deliver to the municipal hall.

"Stray dogs are an ongoing problem," said Bill Harding, Arctic Bay's senior administrative officer. "The solution is responsible owners. When people are responsible and tie their dogs up, then there will be no dogs shot."

He said the shooting can be dangerous but no one has been hurt.

Mr. Harding said that the hamlet, on the northern tip of Baffin Island, has no choice but to shoot strays. "We don't have dogcatchers. We don't have dog pounds. We have a bylaw that says owners are supposed to buy licences for their pets. But we don't have a bylaw officer, and the RCMP are not dogcatchers."

He added that there is no veterinarian, so dog owners cannot easily spay or neuter their pets (it costs $1,200 to fly to the closest vet, in Iqaluit). "You'll find throughout the North [that shooting strays] is what happens. There is no other way to control them."

Mr. Harding, who has a dog on a family farm in Alberta, laughed when asked whether he received complaints about the shootings from locals or animal-rights groups, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

"If I ever heard from PETA, I would invite them to come here and I would have a town-hall meeting in this far, isolated, no-way-out community with the Inuit, and they can hash it out in the community," he said.

'I guarantee you, I will never have another problem with PETA. People here want us to go out and shoot those dogs."

Daphna Machminovitch, PETA's director of domestic-animal issues, called the shooting "distressing" and said the organization is interested in helping Arctic Bay find a better solution.

"We would certainly prefer to see the dog's humanely put to sleep and not shot to death. That sounds like something from the Dark Ages."

She said PETA plans to investigate the shootings, and the organization would consider offering financial support for a spaying or neutering program in the hamlet.

Pat Tohill of the Canadian branch of the World Society for the Protection of Animals said shooting stray dogs is common in many Canadian small towns. Some northern communities have "dog-shooting days," when people fan out and gun down strays.

"There aren't a lot of good options [in remote towns], because there are no humane societies, animal shelters, modern dog-control methods or SPCAs."

The society is working with a community in Northern Quebec to develop humane ways of controlling pet populations.

"It's a holistic program that takes into account licensing, tagging, dog catching, sheltering, adoption and humane euthanasia," he said.

"We are trying to prove that this can be implemented at a bare-bones level and be a practical approach."

If the program is successful, the society plans to export it to other remote communities.