Your Vancouver Province
Kuper Island natives shooting diseased and dangerous dogs
Mounties say animals being culled safely, SPCA only steps in if it's done inhumanely
Suzanne Fournier, The Province
Published: Friday, June 15, 2007

Feral dogs on Kuper Island are being shot by natives to head off an attack on children or the elderly.

"The band has authorized people to take care of nuisance dogs," said Ladysmith RCMP Cpl. Ron MacLellan, one of "two members who went over on a fact-finding visit to see if people were shooting dogs."

After talking to band members, RCMP determined the dog cull was being done safely and had been directed by the band administration to protect its members, said MacLellan.

The tiny island, opposite Chemainus on Vancouver Island, is mostly reserve land occupied by the 400 Coast Salish Penelakut people.

SPCA animal-protection officer Erika Paul said "a lot of tribes keep the dog population down by shooting."

"We only get involved if it is done inhumanely," she said, adding the SPCA will respond if it has evidence a dog has bled to death from multiple wounds or been killed by anything except a direct shot in the head.

Paul said the SPCA has tried to work with Kuper Island, as well as other reserves, to start a spay-and-neuter program, but has not succeeded. "If unsocialized dogs run in a pack they can be a threat to elders or to kids, waiting at the ferry, because the pack mentality can be dangerous," said Paul. "How do you catch a dog that's never been on a collar or leash? You can't, so the solution taken by many reserves, and in many rural areas, is to shoot the dogs."

The SPCA, and many band members, don't like shooting the dogs but few alternatives are available, she said. The SPCA has taken dogs from Kuper Island for adoption "but the dogs tend to be unvaccinated and many of them are a Rottweiler-cross, which is a breed especially susceptible to parvo, and that is a horrible virus and a horrible death," said Paul.

Dogs that have the virus can quickly infect other dogs in the SPCA shelter or in a vet's clinic. Most band offices will not pay for a veterinarian to sterilize dogs and even euthanasia is expensive, she said. "From a legal standpoint, the SPCA only gets involved if we know the dog has not died instantly and humanely."

The only police concern is that "firearms not be discharged in an unsafe manner, like toward a residence," said MacLellan, who pointed out that it is legal in rural areas to shoot a dog that is threatening livestock.

"There is also a provision for dogs running in a pack to be destroyed," he said.

MacLellan said that like any rural area, including many reserves, "every once in a while, the dog population seems to build up, and Kuper Island is an unusually challenging island because there's no vet and if there a couple of litters of seven or eight puppies, the numbers quickly get out of hand."

Kuper Island Chief Lisa Shaver did not return calls, nor did band manager Dorina Elliott. Teachers at the island school refused to comment, as did the island's health clinic co-ordinator and staff.