Jon Ferry: The Province
I think we're being fed a load of bull by some folks when it comes to the slaughter of 100 dogs in Whistler and the care of husky dogs in general.
I'd include those who can't seem to understand why other people get so emotional about dogs, as if this were a human failing.
The answer is obvious: Most dog owners probably spend more time, or at least more quality time, with their dogs than they do with most fellow humans.
However, I do think it's now time to temper our understandable outrage over last spring's sickening mass killing by figuring out what needs to be done to prevent such extreme cruelty in the future.
What exactly is the best way to deal with unwanted huskies, especially large numbers of them?
The B.C. SPCA clearly doesn't want them. Senior SPCA employee Eileen Drever is quoted as saying that she spoke to experts who said the sled dogs "weren't adoptable." And official Marcie Moriarty suggested it's not the SPCA's responsibility to bail out the sled-dog industry.
Well, I agree the industry needs to do its job. But I also agree with avid musher Peg Billingsley, currently in Alaska, that the SPCA's attitude toward sled dogs and their owners, well, stinks.
Billingsley, who keeps 44 huskies near Fairbanks, said the SPCA and the Vancouver Humane Society — which wants to ban sled-dog tourism — invariably claim these dogs make bad pets, which is completely untrue.
"I've been working with this breed for 21 years and, for the most part, they have excellent temperaments, few health issues and typically live to 15 years," she told me. "They are intelligent and easily trained."
Certainly, they need a lot of exercise, but so do other active dog breeds. "It is time that the Humane Society and the SPCA pull their heads out of their proverbial butts and stop being anti-husky, as they have been for years," she said.
UBC dog expert Stanley Coren pointed out Thursday that, if huskies have been socialized, there is no reason why they can't be adopted.
"My guess is that, if they'd been used for tourists and that sort of thing, they should be well socialized," Coren told me, adding he didn't think the SPCA did its job in helping prevent the Whistler slaughter.
So that's settled. People should not be put off owning huskies, and those who already own them should stop hiving off their responsibilities. That's especially true of business owners who profit from them.
Myself, I like a proposal by Abbotsford vet Ray Snopek that municipalities should require commercial dog owners, when they get their business licence, to post a bond (say $500 or $1,000 a dog) that would be used to fund their animals' care if they had to dispose of them.
Snopek, president of the B.C. College of Veterinarians, said finding homes for huskies often involves high transportation costs, so a cash infusion is needed.
Professor Coren, however, cautions against over-reacting with additional legislation to what was essentially a one-off event. "It was a group of people who were greedy and stupid," he said.
I think we can all agree on that.
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/life/afterlife+sled+teams+tourism/4223101/story.html#ixzz1D7zWcKjP