Community overrun by dogs tries to get owners' assistance
The Province
Friday, February 8, 2008
Page: A11
Section: News
Byline: Cheryl Chan
Source: The Province

A remote northern B.C. community is going to the dogs.

Kitkatla, about 50 kilometres from Prince Rupert, is seeing an increase in the number of unspayed, unneutered dogs roaming free.

"They're everywhere," said Wendy Nelson, a receptionist at the band office who is trying to educate pet owners on ownership responsibilities. "They're having pups left and right. They're just too free."

Nelson said the dog packs cause trouble, with alpha males and females becoming aggressive. "Little dogs go missing. They're either attacked by wolves or by alpha males who kill them." Dogfights break out on the streets, and pups are born in the bushes because they have no place to go, she said.

Nelson estimates there are only two abandoned dogs in Kitkatla. The rest -- about 30 to 40 -- have owners who let them run wild.

Some owners chain their dogs outside their homes, even in freezing temperatures, and some people who move away leave their dogs behind.

Kitkatla, with a population of about 4,500, has no veterinarian or SPCA constable. The nearest vet and shelter is in Prince Rupert, a half-hour plane ride or two-hour boat trip away.

Band council Chief Clifford White said the community has been letting dogs roam free for too long. "It's not our way to cage animals," he said. "It's like free-range chickens, they are allowed to wander and then they come home."

Now White wants owners to rein in their pets.

Litters of unwanted puppies and kittens being born in remote communities are not unique, said Marcie Moriarty of the B.C. SPCA.

"It's a tragic situation caused by the lack of access to low-cost spay-and-neuter," she said. "It can happen in any remote community."

The SPCA does not have resources to fly every unwanted dog out to shelters, she said, but does what it can.

Tomorrow, a chartered plane will take a dog and her newly born litter to the Prince Rupert shelter.

Meanwhile, Nelson is doing what she can to educate pet owners.

Yesterday, during lunchtime, she sent out an announcement over the CB radio urging owners to train their dogs and keep them on a leash. "People say, 'You're doing the right thing.' I've had no one disagreeing with me," she said.

She has also created a pet-population committee aimed at getting local dogs licensed, spayed or neutered and vaccinated.